Romanian pro-EU PM faces no-confidence motion
World
By
AFP
| May 05, 2026
Supporters of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan gather in Victoria Square, in front of the Romanian Government headquarters, to demonstrate their backing for his minority government, on May 3, 2026. [AFP]
Romania's parliament on Tuesday will vote on a motion of no confidence that could oust liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, deepening political turmoil in the country, an EU and NATO member bordering Ukraine.
Romania's biggest party, the Social Democrats (PSD), quit the government last month and joined forces with the far right to file the motion.
Tensions with the PSD escalated as Bolojan pushed for unpopular austerity measures to reduce the deficit, the biggest in the European Union.
Analysts expect the motion against Bolojan to pass, leading to tough negotiations to form a new government.
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Parliament is scheduled to debate the motion from 11:00 am (0800 GMT), with the vote expected in the afternoon.
Signed by 254 MPs when it was filed, the motion needs 233 votes to pass in the 465-seat parliament.
Pro-EU President Nicusor Dan has given assurances that the eastern European country of 19 million people will keep its pro-Western direction.
"Political discussions will be difficult, but it is my responsibility as president -- and that of the political parties -- to steer Romania in the right direction," he told reporters on Monday.
Bolojan's liberals, the PSD and two other pro-EU parties formed a government last year following elections in which the far right won an unprecedented third of parliamentary seats.
The deal ended a stretch of political tumult, marked by the annulment of presidential elections over allegations of Russian interference in December 2024.
The no-confidence motion against Bolojan, 57, now threatens to revive the turmoil.
"I think there's a very good chance this motion will pass," political scientist Costin Ciobanu told AFP.
He said weeks of political negotiations were likely to follow, which could see a new government of the same four pro-EU parties but with a different premier.
Meanwhile, "expectation for change" and reforms are not being met, "hitting a kind of impasse" despite "immense pressure from society", said Ciobanu, a researcher at Aarhus University in Denmark.
The PSD's actions have also turned Romania's main far-right party, the AUR, "into a significant political player, from a party that was isolated, ostracised and kept on the margins of the political system", Ciobanu added.
The alliance between the PSD and the far right to file the motion drew criticism from centre-right parties, which accused the Social Democrats of straying from the pro-EU track.
Around 30 NGOs also asked for the Party of European Socialists to suspend the PSD if they collaborate further with the far right, while one PSD senator has resigned from the party in protest.
The PSD has insisted there is "no post-motion political agreement whatsoever" with the far right, only "a common goal" to dismiss the Bolojan government.
Since the crisis erupted, the interest rates at which Romania borrows have risen, and the currency has depreciated against the euro, which reached an all-time high of 5.19 Romanian lei on Monday.
Romania, which had a deficit of 7.9 percent of GDP in the fourth quarter of last year, has been subject to an EU excessive deficit procedure since 2020.