Romania's pro-EU Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Monday announced his resignation, deepening political turmoil a day after a far-right candidate topped the first round of a tense presidential vote rerun.

George Simion, leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, emerged as the clear frontrunner in Romania ’s presidential election redo, securing 40.5 per cent of the vote with nearly all ballots counted. The vote followed last year’s annulled election marred by allegations of fraud.