Romania’s President Nicusor Dan insisted that his country would keep on its pro-Western path on Tuesday after the pro-European government was toppled in a no-confidence vote on Tuesday.
President Dan said that his informal consultations with parties after the collapse of the government will focus on forming a new administration, stressing that Romania will have a pro-western government.
He also excluded a scenario in which there would be snap elections.
“With calm, we will get through this,” he said in public comments where he did not take any questions.
The president insisted he would seek to find a majority for forming a new pro-EU government, amid pressures from the hard-right AUR party which leads in the poll and was one of the initiators for the no-confidence vote.
The political uncertainty looks set to last for weeks, raising questions over the consequences of this political crisis for Romania’s access to EU funds and key economic reforms including trimming the budget deficit of 7.9%, the highest in the European Union.
The Social Democrats (PSD), the largest party in parliament, and the far-right AUR brought the motion which won 281 votes, far more than the 233 it needed.
AUR leader, George Simion, called for early elections, saying the “voice of the people” had been heard and his party assumed responsibility for “the future of the country”.
Elections are not due until 2028 and a snap ballot is considered unlikely, mainly because the AUR has surged past the PSD as the most popular party in the polls.
The PSD quit the government over Bolojan’s austerity measures which were designed to trim public spending. The PSD relies on support from regional leaders and Bolojan’s cuts threatened their financing.
