By Luiza Ilie

BUCHAREST, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Bucharest could become the first European Union capital led by a hard-right mayor in Sunday’s local election, a contest which threatens Romania’s fragile pro-European coalition government.

The influential post has been vacant since May when centrist Nicusor Dan won a presidential election re-run one year into his second term as mayor.

The re-run came after Romania cancelled an election on suspicion of Russian interference that favoured far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu, who is currently awaiting trial on charges of attempting to subvert national security.

Polls show TV anchor Anca Alexandrescu, running as an independent backed by the opposition hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR), tied for first place in the mayoral race. Analy

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