The surprise far-right winner of the first round of Romania's presidential election has denied he wants to leave NATO and the European Union, appearing to roll back some of his positions amid protests over his victory.

In Romania, the far-right nationalist Călin Georgescu shocked pollsters as he gathered the highest number of votes — around 23% — in the country’s presidential election, knocking Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu out of the race.

A hard-right critic of NATO who has praised Russia is set to face a centre-right opposition leader in a presidential election run-off in Romania that could undermine its pro-Western stance after a shock outcome in the first-round vote.

A Romanian hard-right NATO critic and centre-right opposition party leader will likely face each other in an 8 December presidential run-off vote, results showed, in an unexpected outcome that threatens Romania's staunchly pro-Ukraine stance.

Romania's constitutional court on Thursday ordered a recount of votes cast in the first round of presidential elections after far-right, pro-Russia candidate Calin Georgescu took a surprising lead after polling in the single digits before the vote.

Ballots from the Romanian diaspora, which are not included in the main tally, showed a center-right politician in first place.