Romania could elect its first far-right president on Sunday in key elections for the EU and NATO member bordering Ukraine.

Far-right politician Calin Georgescu, a former senior civil servant, shocked the Eastern European nation by winning the first round of presidential elections on November 24, Western media reported.

On Sunday, in the second round, he will face Elena Lasconi, the mayor of a small Romanian town.

There are fears that under Gorgescu, the country, whose strategic importance has increased since Russia's attack on Ukraine, will join the EU's far-right bloc and undermine European unity over Russia, which Bucharest pointed the finger at for meddling in the first round of elections.

"The outcome of the second round of the presidential elections is considered a referendum on the country's future foreign policy orientation," said Marius Ginea, a political scientist at the ETH University in Zurich.

On the eve of the second round, Lasconi emphasized how high the stakes are in these elections in one of the largest EU member states, with around 19 million inhabitants.

The journalist-turned-politician warned that the country is facing an "existential battle" and a "historical conflict" between those who want to "preserve Romania's young democracy" and those who want to "return to the Russian sphere of influence".

The polls, which failed to predict Georgescu's success in the first round, now give him 58 percent support and Lasconi 42 percent.

After praising Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past, Gorgescu, 62, now avoids answering questions about his pro-Russian orientation.