Nicuşor Dan begins process of forming a government after beating George Simion, an ultranationalist who wants to halt Ukraine support

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The centrist mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, has begun sounding out Romania’s political parties over forming a new majority government after winning the country’s presidential election in a surprise result greeted with relief across the EU.

With all votes counted on Monday morning, Dan, who had described the second round vote as a battle between “a pro-western and an anti-western Romania”, scored 53.6%, official figures showed, against 46.4% for his far-right rival George Simion.