BUCHAREST, June 22 (V7N) — Romania’s parliament is scheduled to vote Monday on a new liberal prime minister amid ongoing political instability in the EU and NATO member state bordering Ukraine.
The latest crisis began in early May when Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government fell in a no-confidence vote backed by the centre-left and far-right.
After the first nominee for prime minister withdrew, President Nicusor Dan appointed 52-year-old Liberal politician Adrian Vestea on June 14 to form a government.
Debate on Vestea’s proposed cabinet started in parliament Monday morning, with a vote set for 9:30 pm local time (1830 GMT).
Vestea, a former mayor, regional leader, and development minister, needs 233 votes from both houses to secure approval. His own Liberal party, led by Bolojan, has so far declined to back him and has threatened him with expulsion.
Vestea said he would seek talks with “the pro-Western democratic political parties” to build a governing majority. Ahead of Monday’s vote, he also met with AUR, the country’s largest far-right party and a critic of the EU.
The no-confidence motion that ousted Bolojan followed the centre-left Social Democrats (PSD) — Romania’s biggest party — leaving the pro-EU coalition and voting with far-right parties against the government.
President Dan has repeatedly ruled out any government involving the far right, which has been gaining ground in Romanian politics. Dan won the presidency in a rescheduled May 2025 election after the December 2024 vote was annulled over alleged Russian interference.
AUR said earlier this month that Vestea’s nomination “only serves to exacerbate the current crisis” and called for early elections.
Bolojan’s coalition, which took office in June 2025, introduced unpopular austerity measures, including tax hikes, to address Romania’s budget deficit — the largest in the European Union.
END/WD/RH
