Mircea Geoana, former deputy secretary general of NATO, has declared his candidacy for the Romanian presidency, setting the stage for a potentially fierce contest against the leaders of the current ruling coalition, Bloomberg reports.
Geoana, a seasoned diplomat and politician, will run as an independent candidate.
The 66-year-old former leader of the Social Democratic party, currently led by Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, aims to challenge both Ciolacu and Senate Speaker Nicolae Ciuca in the upcoming presidential election. Geoana previously lost a close presidential race against Traian Basescu in 2009.
His announcement, made on his Facebook page, comes as polls suggest he could be a frontrunner in the race to succeed incumbent Klaus Iohannis. Romanians will head to the polls on November 24th, with a runoff scheduled for December 8th if no candidate secures a majority.
The presidential election will be followed by a parliamentary election on December 1.
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