Euronews Romania will exclusively stage and air the first Romanian presidential election debate this evening as final candidates Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan and AUR party leader George Simion face off in a three-hour television duel.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged de-escalation and expressed support for direct dialogue in separate calls with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

After decisively winning the most votes in Romania's first-round presidential election redo, hard-right nationalist George Simion will face a pro-Western reformist in a pivotal runoff in two weeks that could reshape the European Union and NATO member country's geopolitical direction.