Romania’s president nominates a new prime minister to break a political deadlock

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian President Nicusor Dan nominated Liberal European lawmaker Siegfried Muresan on Thursday to be prime minister as he seeks to end a monthslong political crisis after his previous two picks failed.

Dan nominated the 44-year-old member of the European Parliament and the center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, to try to form a government. Dan made two nominations in June after a no-confidence vote toppled Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in May.

“We are more than four months after the government was dismissed … and during this period, we have had hundreds of hours of discussions, both together and separately, with political parties to find a solution to this crisis,” Dan said at the presidential Cotroceni Palace in the capital, Bucharest. “Romania needs a government.”

“I chose to designate for the position of prime minister the person who has the most votes cast today by the parties in the consultations today. This person is Siegfried Muresan,” he added. “We do not have a clear majority, despite all these hours of discussions.”

Shortly after his nomination, Muresan said in a Facebook post, “I accept the proposal made by the president of Romania.”

Dan said Muresan’s experience in the European Parliament qualifies him for the premiership. Muresan became an MEP in 2014, and is vice chair of the European People’s Party group in the European Parliament.

Muresan has 10 days to present a cabinet to Parliament.

When the previous coalition came to power in June 2025, its priority was to reduce the budget deficit, but Bolojan found himself frequently at loggerheads with PSD over austerity measures.

Bolojan was sworn in with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-Communist history but was ousted after a motion was submitted by the PSD, which was part of the coalition, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party. He has remained prime minister in an interim capacity since.

Sorin Grindeanu, leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, or PSD, said Thursday that he noted with “surprise and disappointment” Dan’s nomination and that he had convened his party’s National Permanent Bureau for a meeting on Monday to “carefully analyze” the proposal.

“It is difficult to understand the reasoning behind the head of state’s choice of someone like Muresan,” he said in a Facebook post. “Romania, however, finds itself in an extremely difficult situation.”

Between 2000 and 2004, Muresan studied at Bucharest’s Academy of Economic Studies, and then took a Master’s program in Economics and Management Science at Humboldt University in Berlin. Before becoming an MEP, he was an adviser to the EPP.

Dan had previously nominated Adrian Vestea for the premiership, but his proposal for a government was rejected by Parliament. Before him, Eugen Tomac withdrew before a vote in Parliament.

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says there is little chance Muresan’s nomination will lead to a majority among Romania’s pro-European parties and that he expects “further political stalemate.”

“The center-right coalition around Muresan has very little chance to win the support of the Parliament,” he told The Associated Press. “But it also opens the door for a future collaboration between the Social Democrats and the populists. … The president is putting blame on the political parties for not being able to create such a majority.”

The prime ministerial position was set to be rotated in 2027 from Bolojan to a PSD premier as part of a power-sharing agreement. A general election is scheduled for 2028.

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McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.