In the first round of Romania's presidential election, a far-right candidate who opposes NATO has taken an unexpected lead.

Calin Georgescu, an independent, won 22.94% of votes in Sunday's voting, knocking Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu out of the race. 

Georgescu will face center-right contender Elena Lasconi, leader of the opposition Save Romania Union, in the presidential run-off on December 8.

The outcome was a shock as pre-election opinion polls had Ciolacu as the frontrunner.

He resigned as leader of his Social Democratic Party (PSD) on Monday but said he would stay prime minister until a parliamentary election in December. 

Georgescu a NATO-sceptic

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."

He also said Romania's best chance lay with "Russian wisdom," but has refused to say explicitly whether he supports Russia.

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.

Georgescu denied charges of being an extremist as "false, totally fake" and said he is "completely dedicated" to the Romanian people. "We remain directly linked to European values, but we must find our (own) values," he said

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

He will face Lasconi, the leader of the centre-right opposition Save Romania Union party, who got 19.18% of the vote on Sunday.

Lasconi attempted to highlight her pro-Western stance in comments made late on Monday, "Yes, Europe. Yes, NATO."

She warned Romania is now in "a historical confrontation between preserving Romania's young democracy and those who want to return Romania to the Russian sphere of influence."

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.

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.

lo,kb,ss/ab (AP, Reuters)