Romania is moving towards the formation of a pro-European government, with the country at the center of a political crisis following the victory in the presidential elections by the far-right and pro-Russian candidate Călin Georgescu, an election later annulled due to foreign interference. Four parties of the Romanian Parliament, the former “grand coalition” of the Social Democrats (PSD) and the Liberals (PNL), with the Hungarians’ UDMR party and the reformist USR party, as well as representatives of other ethnic minorities, have announced their ” firm commitment” to forming an executive that maintains the pro-European line.
The Social Democrats won the largest number of seats in the parliamentary elections on 1 December, in elections which also saw the excellent success of three ultra-nationalist and radical right groups, some of which with pro-Russian sympathies, which obtained more than a third of the votes seats. The new government will first have to define a new calendar for the presidential elections, which will probably be held in the first part of 2025.
The outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis, who will remain in office until his successor is sworn in, will appoint a prime minister with the current legislature ending December 21. However, analysts predict that the four parties, which have often clashed over political issues, will struggle to agree on the measures needed to reduce the EU’s largest budget deficit, equal to 8% of GDP.
“The pro-European formations PSD, Pnl, Usr, Udmr and the parliamentary group of national minorities announce their firm commitment to forming a pro-European majority in the Romanian Parliament, a pro-European government and to supporting a possible common pro-European candidate in the presidential elections”, we read in the declaration of the parties. The parliamentary elections were held between two rounds of the presidential elections, during which the far-right NATO critic Georgescu emerged as the winner of the first round but amid accusations of Russian interference, accusations which then led the country’s supreme court to annul the presidential vote and determine that the entire process will have to be repeated.
