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.

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

The head of Romania’s election bureau has said the first round of its presidential election could be rerun, as the country’s constitutional court prepared to decide whether the vote, won by a little-known ultranationalist,