Before a medical caravan organised by Romania's hard-right opposition AUR party drove up to her village in April, Florina Purcareanu had not had a blood test in more than 15 years.

To get it, she would need to travel some 25 km (16 miles) to the state hospital in the nearest town and like many in her village of Ludesti in central Romania she does not have a car, and public transport links are poor.

"AUR came ... and gave out fliers and as it happens I was really sick yesterday, a sharp pain on my right side, I couldn't get up, I couldn't breathe," said the 56-year-old housewife. "So I decided to come."

In a push to become the second-biggest political party in Romania, just five years since its founding, the Alliance for Uniting Romanians (AUR) has set its sights on voters like Purcareanu: living in underdeveloped villages, with scarce access to public services including healthcare.

Across Europe, polls show deteriorating access to medical services is a key driver of the popularity of ultranationalist and eurosceptic parties, which are expected to win a record number of votes in the June 9 European parliamentary elections.

In Romania, where reported unmet medical needs are double the European Union average, AUR has fitted several large lorries with medical equipment. 

The caravan has been crisscrossing Romania for nearly a year, with volunteer doctors and nurses offering blood tests, scans, ophthalmology and dental services.