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 nationalists who made huge gains in the country’s legislature.

With a surge for the far-right, the elections have signaled a dramatic shift for a once-reliable transatlantic ally out of the European mainstream and toward Moscow. A parliamentary victory for the Social Democrats,

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.

The rise of anti-establishment sentiment, fuelled by economic woes, has led to a potential coalition government that could be difficult to form.

Romania’s ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) received 22.5% of the votes during the parliamentary elections, according to results from more than 99% polling stations published on Dec. 2.

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 ruling Social Democrats (PSD) were leading in Sunday's parliamentary elections, but the far right secured big gains, exit polling found, deepening uncertainty in a country rocked by political chaos.

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 top court on Friday postponed a decision on whether to annul the first round of a presidential election until Dec. 2, after a shock result caused suspicions of interference in the campaign.