Who is Nicușor Dan, the newly elected president of Romania?
Nicușor Dan was elected as the President of Romania in the second round of the 2025 presidential elections. An independent politician and trained mathematician, he is also a former Mayor of Bucharest. Dan's public career is distinguished by his civic activism, strong pro-European values, and unwavering stance against corruption. With his election, he becomes the fifth president since the December 1989 revolution.
From pure mathematics to public life
Born in 1969 in Făgăraș, Nicușor Dan graduated from the Faculty of Mathematics in Bucharest and continued with a doctorate at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He returned to Romania in the early 2000s, where he distinguished himself through initiatives to protect the capital’s architectural heritage by founding the “Save Bucharest” Association.
His civic involvement laid the groundwork for a political career. In 2012, he ran as an independent candidate for Bucharest City Hall, and in 2015, he founded the Save Bucharest Union (USB), which later became a core component of the Save Romania Union (USR), a reformist party. He was elected mayor general in 2020 and re-elected in 2024, with an agenda focused on transparency, digitalization, and combating political clientelism.
Presidential candidacy
In light of the cancellation of the November 2024 elections, Nicușor Dan was the first candidate to officially announce his entry into the race, supported by USR and other pro-European formations. He collected over 200,000 signatures and ran as an independent candidate. His campaign was marked by clear messages against corruption, the consolidation of the rule of law, support for EU and NATO membership, and the protection of democracy.
With a moderate and rational tone, he attracted urban voters, the diaspora, and undecided individuals who rejected populism. In the first round, he received 20.99% of the votes, qualifying for the second round against George Simion, in a contest viewed as a referendum on pro-European versus nationalist directions.
Vision for the Republic of Moldova
Nicușor Dan has consistently included the Republic of Moldova in his foreign policy discourse. He stated that Romania must actively support Chisinau's accession to the EU by facilitating the transfer of expertise, access to European funds, and Romanian investments. He proposed creating a guarantee fund for investments, simplifying customs procedures, and supporting the process of regaining Romanian citizenship.
Strategically, he emphasized that a potential military attack on the Republic of Moldova should elicit a coordinated response with NATO partners. In an interview with Moldova 1 in April 2025, Dan expressed his support for the unification of the two states but stressed that this must occur democratically, with the consent of the majority of citizens on both sides of the Prut.
On the first day following the elections, the newly elected President of Romania, Nicușor Dan, had a phone call with the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu.
