BUCHAREST – Romania’s largest parliamentary party, the Social Democrats, said Monday it would team up with the hard-right Alliance for Uniting Romanians in an effort to bring down the pro-European coalition led by Liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, a move that could jeopardize access to EU funding.
The Social Democrats pulled their ministers from Bolojan’s cabinet last week, stripping the government of its majority and putting at risk key economic indicators, including sovereign ratings, debt yields and more than 10 billion euros in pandemic recovery funds due before an August EU deadline. Bolojan has rejected calls to quit, saying urgent reforms are needed to unlock the money.
The coalition that took shape after the December 2024 election was designed to check the rise of far-right parties, but budget disputes have steadily strained relations. The main fault line has been austerity measures aimed at reducing Romania’s deficit from above 9% of GDP in 2024, the highest in the EU, to 6.2% this year.
Although the Social Democrats had said they could return to a pro-European alliance without Bolojan, his Liberal Party has refused that formula. The party said the leftists had broken coalition agreements and ruled out another partnership with them.
A viable pro-European majority is impossible without the Social Democrats, who had previously rejected any deal with AUR, now the second-largest party and the front-runner in opinion polls with about 35% support. Together, the two parties hold about 220 of the 464 seats in parliament, and would need 233 votes to topple the government, a threshold they could reach with help from smaller far-right groups.
Former deputy prime minister Marian Neacsu left open the possibility of an AUR alliance, saying only, “Every journey begins with the first step.” AUR leader George Simion said a no-confidence motion would be filed once 233 lawmakers sign it and that a vote could come on May 5. Romania is not scheduled to hold another general election until 2028 and has never had a snap poll.