Romania's incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) was tied with far-right NATO critic Calin Georgescu, with 90% of votes counted, as the two battled for first place in the country's presidential elections on Sunday.

Georgescu came in with a razor thin margin of 22% of the vote, while Ciolacu had 21.7%. As neither candidate can achieve an absolute majority, they will have to face off in a runoff vote on December 8. 

Ballots from Romania's sizable diaspora, which have yet to be included in the main tally, meanwhile showed center-right Elena Lasconi leading with  33.4%, with Georgescu second.

Shock lead for Georgescu

Romanians went to the polls in the first round of a presidential election , where the frontrunners for the largely ceremonial role going into Sunday's vote had been Ciolacu and George Simion of the far-right nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians.

Exit polls had initially showed showed Ciolacu with 25% of the vote while the centre-right former journalist turned small-town mayor Lasconi with 18%.

Georgescu and Simion —  the two hard-right candidates — were at 16% and 15% of the vote.

Thirteen candidates were competing, with the top two advancing to a second-round vote on December 8 to determine who would run the European Union and NATOmember country.

Support for Ukraine played a role

Analysts had predicted that social democrat Ciolacu would win a second round against Simion, who had been his main contender in opinion polls ahead of the vote.

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.

Simion, on the other hand, opposes military aid to Ukraine, is an ardent fan of Donald Trump, and wants to impose a system modeled on Giorgia Meloni's right-wing government in Italy. The far-right leader has come under fire for allegations that he met with Russian spies, a claim he has denied.

The data does not include the votes of hundreds of thousands of Romanians who live abroad, who can still influence the result. 

Ciolacu told the AP news agency that as president, his priority would be "to convince Romanians to stay or return home" to help rebuild the country.

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)