Romania’s ruling leftwing Social Democrats (PSD) appears to have won the most votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election, defeating a resurgent far-right movement challenging the country’s pro-western orientation, an exit poll shows.

The vote is the second of three ballots for a new parliament and a new president, after the first round of the presidential election on 24 November in which an independent far-right candidate, Călin Georgescu, emerged from relative obscurity to become the frontrunner.

His unexpected win ushered in support for ultranationalist, hard-right parties, some with overt pro-Russian sympathies, which political analysts said could undermine Romania’s backing for Ukraine and open the way for illiberal policies.

Exit polls on Sunday showed the PSD winning 26% of votes, ahead of the hard-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) on 19%. The PSD had 32.5% of seats in the last parliament while the AUR had 8.5%.

The outgoing Social Democrat prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, ranked third in the presidential ballot’s first round after a campaign dominated by voters’ concerns about the cost of living and anger at mainstream parties’ infighting and corruption allegations.

More details soon …