Romania’s government easily survived a no-confidence vote on Monday, giving it the green light to implement sweeping austerity measures to shrink its budget deficit which is the highest in the European Union.
The motion filed by the country’s far-right opposition won 134 votes, far short of the 233 needed to topple Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s government.
Far-right lawmakers were opposed to a fiscal plan, which sees higher taxes and spending cuts and is due to go into force from Aug. 1.
The pro-European four-party coalition took power at the end of June, ending months of political turmoil after Romania cancelled a presidential election in December over allegations of Russian meddling and held a re-do in May.
The hikes have been criticized by employers and thousands of public sector workers have staged protests.
“I understand the opposition does not agree with the measures proposed by the government,” Premier Bolojan told lawmakers.
“What then are the solutions? On the one hand we are told the problems in the economy are serious, on the other not to take these measures. We can’t have both.”
PM Bolojan is committed to lowering the deficit to around 8% of economic output by year-end from last year’s 9.3%, and down to 6% in 2026.
