After decisively winning the most votes in Romania's first-round presidential election redo, hard-right nationalist George Simion will face a pro-Western reformist in a pivotal runoff in two weeks that could reshape the European Union and NATO member country's geopolitical direction.

Presidential candidate George Simion walks holding a picture of Romanian holy icon of Protection of the Theotokos presented by a supporter outside a polling station during the country's first round of the presidential election,

A George Simion victory could isolate Romania, erode private investment and destabilise NATO's eastern flank, where Ukraine is fighting a three-year-old Russian invasion, political observers say.