BUCHAREST - Romania's pro-Europe President Klaus Iohannis has taken a big lead in the first round of the country's presidential election on Sunday, according to partial official results.

With votes from 90 percent of polling stations counted, Iohannis stands on just over 36 percent, with his nearest rival, former Social Democrat (PSD) prime minister Viorica Dancila, on 24 percent.

Iohannis claimed victory on Sunday evening in front of cheering supporters at his campaign headquarters.

"We have beaten the Social Democrats," the 60-year-old leader said.

"But the war is not over, we have to take another step forward in two weeks," he said, referring to the second round ballot on November 24.

Iohannis now seems "assured of a second five-year term" as voters for lower-placed candidates will largely swing behind him, political analyst Andrei Taranu told AFP.

A Iohannis victory would potentially add to a liberal fightback against the region's prevailing nationalism, following the election of an anti-corruption activist as Slovakia's president and a center-left candidate as mayor of the Hungarian capital Budapest.

Dancila meanwhile said she was "happy" with the result, adding: "We are present in the second round, I thank those who voted with their hearts."

The PSD has become increasingly reliant on an ageing, rural electorate and had feared the nightmare scenario of not making it to the second round, which would have been a first in Romania's post-communist history.

A record 650,000 votes from Romanians abroad -- who tend to favor liberal candidates -- will take longer to count but analysts say they will likely not be enough to knock Dancila out of the race.

The third-placed candidate, Dan Barna from the recently-formed pro-EU Save Romania Union (USR) party, is on around 13 percent. -AFP