Romania’s President Nominates MEP to Form Govt, But Uncertainty Remains

Romania’s President Nominates MEP to Form Govt, But Uncertainty Remains Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Thursday nominated the liberal politician Siegfried Muresan, a member of the European Parliament, to lead efforts to form a new government. However, securing a parliamentary majority capable of forming a government that will address the country’s economic challenges could prove extremely difficult, as no single party has enough seats to do so – an issue that has caused a long-running political crisis. “More than four months have passed since we have had a government … and despite hundreds of hours of negotiations with the political parties, we have failed to reach a viable formula,” President Dan acknowledged. He added that, under these circumstances, he had decided to nominate the person “who has the greatest parliamentary support”, namely Muresan. “He is someone with experience in the European Parliament and the expertise required for this position,” Dan said. Muresan announced on social media that he would take up the challenge, clearing the way for political negotiations and efforts to form a new cabinet. Aged 44, Muresan has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014, is currently vice-president of the centre-right European People’s Party group and a key figure on EU budget and economic policy. His nomination is backed by the centre-right National Liberal Party, PNL, and two smaller centre-right parties. Muresan has so far advocated reducing the budget deficit, continuing the reforms initiated under interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, and forming a “competent”, pro-European government. But observers expressed scepticism about his chances of forming an administration. “The arithmetic is very simple. The parties supporting Muresan can muster no more than 190 votes in a confidence vote, well below the 233 votes required,” journalist Dan Tapalaga said. “Under these circumstances, I don’t see how Siegfried Muresan can form a government,” he added. Mureșan now has ten days to put together a cabinet and present his governing programme to parliament. During the more than four months that Romania has been without a government, President Dan has made two previous nominations, both of which failed. In June, independent Eugen Tomac, the first prime minister-designate, withdrew from efforts to form a government before facing a parliamentary vote. Three weeks later, parliament rejected the proposed programme and cabinet put forward by liberal politician Adrian Vestea, further prolonging the political crisis. Romania’s current political crisis stems from deep tensions among the parties that previously formed the pro-European governing coalition. The coalition, formed in June 2025, brought together the centre-left Social Democratic Party, PSD, the centre-right National Liberal Party, PNL, and two smaller centre-right parties. One of its main objectives was to curb the rise of the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians, AUR, led by George Simion. Its mandate included stabilising the economy, which is burdened by the largest budget deficit in the European Union, securing access to 11 billion euros in EU recovery funds and safeguarding Romania’s investment-grade credit rating. But a series of unpopular austerity measures introduced to reduce the budget deficit placed growing strain on the coalition, particularly with the Social Democrats, who withdrew their support in May.