Romanians were voting on Sunday in a tense presidential election re-run, a tight race between a fan of US President Donald Trump and a pro-EU mayor that could reshape the direction of the key NATO member bordering war-torn Ukraine.

If nationalist George Simion wins the rerun -- held after last year's vote was annulled over allegations of election interference -- he would become the country's first far-right president.

That would thrust Romania into a growing group of European Union countries with nationalist leaders critical of Brussels and keen to cut military aid to Ukraine.

Far-right leader Simion and his rival, Bucharest's Mayor Nicusor Dan, have both campaigned on a platform of change amid anger with politicians deemed corrupt who have ruled one of the EU's poorest countries since the end of Communism 35 years ago.

"I voted thinking about a better life," Catalin Birca, 57, a pensioner in Bucharest, told AFP, adding that he wanted his country to remain pro-European.

"What are we doing otherwise? Going back to where we started........

© International Business Times