Romania's incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) is set to be eliminated from the first round of the country's presidential election, which will now see a runoff between two right-wing candidates.

With 99.9% of votes counted on Monday morning, hard-right NATO-sceptic Calin Georgescu was leading with 22.9% of the vote.

Ballots cast by Romanians living abroad then propelled center-right candidate Elena Lasconi into second place on 19.16%.

Prime Minister Ciolacu, the pre-vote favorite who exit polls had earlier put on 25%, was projected to finish third.

NATO-sceptic Georgescu set to win first round

Georgescu, formerly a prominent member of the far-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians party, was only polling at around 5% in the build-up to the election.

He has claimed that NATO would not protect any of its members should they be attacked by Russia and called the alliance's ballistic missile defense shield in the Romanian town of Deveselu a "shame of diplomacy."

His jump from single-figure ratings to Sunday's first-round election lead is without precedent since the collapse of communism in Romania in 1989.

"Never in our 34 years of democracy have we seen such a surge compared to surveys," political commentator Radu Magdin told the Reuters news agency.

"We are strong and brave, many of us voted, even more will do so in the second round," Georgescu said on Sunday evening.

Romania: How important is the role of president?

The position of Romanian President is largely ceremonial but the office does have semi-executive control over defense spending - a key issue for the increasingly important NATO member which shares a 650-kilometer (400-mile) border with Ukraine.

Romanian Black Sea ports are also key for the export of Ukrainian grain, but Bucharest is under pressure to increase NATO spending while also battling to reduce a considerable fiscal deficit.

Ciolacu hoped to win over voters with his pledge of ensuring "stability."

Ciolacu's government has thrown its support behind neighboring Ukraine following the Russian invasion, while Romania has taken on an increasingly important role within NATO.

Lasconi, a former journalist and the leader of Save Romania Union party, or USR, said she sees corruption as one of the biggest problems Romania faces and that she supports increased defense spending and continued aid to Ukraine.

Whoever wins the second round will replace the current president, Klaus Iohannis, a liberal who has been a firm supporter of Ukraine. He has held the role since 2014.

kb, ss/ab (AP, Reuters)