Romania's Constitutional Court on Monday validated the shock first-round result in its presidential election, setting the stage for a run-off vote on Dec. 8 that could upend the country's pro-Western orientation and erode backing for Ukraine.

A top court issued the ruling just days after an ultranationalist outsider unexpectedly won the most votes in the first round of presidential elections held Sunday.

Pro-Western parties have won the most votes in Romania’s parliamentary election and will look to form a coalition government as the European Union country faces a surge of support for far-right nation

Romanians vote in a parliamentary election on Sunday, one week after an independent far-right candidate won the most votes in the first round of a presidential election, a result now under review by the country's top court.

Romania’s top court ordered a vote recount in the first round of the presidential election, it said on Thursday, in a ruling observers said risked tarnishing the credibility of state institutions ahead of two more ballots.

The leftist Social Democratic Party topped the polls in Sunday's vote and the far-right nationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians came in second.

Romanians were voting in a parliamentary election on Sunday, in which the far right is expected to gain from uncertainty over whether the shock result in a presidential election will stand. Sunday's vote is the second of three consecutive ballots for both a new parliament and a new president,

Romanian centrist and leftist parties looked to have fended off a surge by the nationalist right in Sunday's parliamentary election, as attention turned to a top court ruling later on Monday on whether to annul the results of a presidential vote.

Romania's ruling center-left Social Democrats were poised to secure the most votes in Sunday's parliamentary election, according to preliminary results published Monday.

Romania's ruling leftist Social Democrats (PSD) looked set to win the most votes in a parliamentary election on Sunday, fending off a resurgent far-right movement that challenges the country's pro-Western orientation,

Romanians cast ballots Sunday in a parliamentary election sandwiched between a two-round presidential race, the first of which has plunged the European Union and NATO member into unprecedented turmoil following allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference.