Romanian lawmakers vote in favor of pro-EU coalition, aiming to end protracted political crisis

San Francisco Chronicle​

6 days ago

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian lawmakers voted Monday decisively in favor of a new pro-European coalition government led by a center-right prime minister, as the European Union and NATO member nation seeks to end one of its worst political crises in its post-communist history.
Parliament approved the new administration in a 301-9 vote in Romania's 464-seat legislature, days after Romania's new President Nicusor Dan nominated lie Bolojan of the center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, to lead a new government. Some lawmakers from nationalist opposition parties were absent from the voting.
The coalition is made up of the leftist Social Democratic Party, or PSD, the PNL, the reformist Save Romania Union party, and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party, with the support of national minorities. The ministerial positions will be shared among the parties, which will hold a comfortable majority. The prime ministerial position will be rotated in 2027 from Bolojan to a PSD premier as part of a power-sharing agreement.
Ahead of the confidence vote on Monday, Bolojan, 56, called it a 'decisive moment" for Romania's future and said among his top priorities would be reducing the large budget deficit and reforming state institutions.
'Despite the challenges we face … Romania deserves a realistic and fair country project,' he said. 'Romania must be stronger and more secure, with an economy that can and must grow … with reformed institutions and respect for citizens.'
With one of the highest budget deficits in the 27-nation EU bloc, the new government will face the challenge of introducing fiscal measures that Bolojan acknowledged could prove unpopular, especially ahead of a 2028 general election amid a growing shift toward populist parties.
After parliament's approval, the Romanian president will hold a ceremony to swear in the new government at Cotroceni Palace in the capital, Bucharest.
Bolojan previously served as acting president earlier this year, until Dan decisively beat a hard-right opponent in a heated presidential election rerun. That vote was held months after the previous election was annulled by a top court, which plunged Romania into a deep political crisis and exposed deep societal divisions in the country.
The previous coalition, sworn in last December, collapsed following Marcel Ciolacu's resignation in May, after the joint candidate failed to make the presidential runoff.
The current broad coalition is viewed as a tactical partnership to shut out right-wing nationalists, whose voices found fertile ground during Romania's chaotic election cycle, with growing anti-establishment sentiment.
Sorin Grindeanu, the PSD leader, said his party 'will be a responsible and honest partner' in the new coalition, which he said is for 'the good of this country and for the good of Romanians.'
'I wish (the coalition) to be strong for the next three and a half years,' he said. 'We are thus leaving the era of unprofitable interims and entering a period of rational and realistic solutions.'
George Simion, the leader of the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, who lost the presidency to Dan in the runoff, said he didn't think the coalition would make it through the year.