May 6, 2026
Balkan Insight
By Marian Chiriac
Romania’s pro-European government, led by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, collapsed on Tuesday after parliament passed a no-confidence motion initiated by the left-leaning Social Democratic Party, PSD, and the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians, AUR.
The motion was supported by 281 votes, well above the 233 needed to dismiss the Prime Minister, while only four lawmakers voted against. Although Bolojan’s allies were present, they abstained.
“We aim to form a new government as soon as possible. All options for a future coalition remain open,” PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said shortly after the vote.
Following this outcome, the government will continue in a caretaker capacity with limited powers for up to 45 days. During this period, President Nicusor Dan is expected to nominate a new prime minister-designate tasked with securing a parliamentary majority.
The vote caps weeks of escalating tensions within Romania’s fragile ruling coalition, strained by policy disagreements, internal rivalries and eroding support in parliament.
Bolojan assembled a four-party coalition in June 2025 to contain the rise of the AUR, led by George Simion. The alliance came in the wake of the Constitutional Court decision to annul the November 2024 first-round presidential election over suspected Russian interference benefiting nationalist candidate Călin Georgescu.
The PSD was the dominant force in the coalition, which included Bolojan’s centre-right National Liberal Party and two smaller centre-right parties. Its mandate was to stabilise the economy – currently facing the highest budget deficit in the EU – unlock 11 billion euros in EU recovery funds, and preserve the country’s investment-grade rating.
However, a series of unpopular austerity measures aimed at reducing last year’s budget deficit strained relations with the Social Democrats who ultimately withdrew from the coalition. Bolojan accused their leadership of seeking to remove him to “protect their own interests.”
Last month, the PSD joined forces with AUR to file the no-confidence motion.
The political crisis has unsettled investors and weakened the national currency, with the leu hitting a historic low against the euro on Tuesday.
President Dan sought to reassure domestic and international audiences on Monday, stressing that Romania would remain firmly on its pro-European path.
Analysts warn that the situation is volatile.
“We are already facing a historic depreciation of the national currency, which may deepen further,” economic analyst Adrian Negrescu wrote on social media.
He added that the current crisis adds to broader concerns over governance stability and fiscal policy direction, so that “Romania risks sliding into an economic recession”.
Romania's pro-EU coalition collapses after prime minister fails no-confidence vote
Romania has faced a long period of instability and the country is grappling with one of the highest budget deficits in the EU, rampant inflation and a technical recession.
Romania's pro-European coalition government collapsed on Tuesday after lawmakers voted in favour of a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, triggering a fresh period of turmoil in the less than a year after the coalition was sworn in.
The joint effort was launched last week when the leftist Social Democratic Party (PSD), which withdrew from the coalition in late April, and the hard-right opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), submitted the motion to Parliament.
After a parliamentary debate, 281 lawmakers voted in favour of the motion and four against.
Lawmakers from Bolojan's centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL) and coalition partners Save Romania Union party and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party did not cast votes.
Bolojan called the motion "cynical and artificial" and said before the vote that it "seems to be written by people who were not in government every day and did not participate in all the decisions."
"It is cynical, because it does not take into account the context in which we find ourselves," he said.
"I assumed the position of prime minister, being aware that it comes with enormous pressure and that I would not receive applause from the citizens. But I chose to do what was urgent and necessary for our country."
Romania has faced a long period of instability after a presidential election was annulled in December 2024 and the country is grappling with one of the highest budget deficits in the EU, rampant inflation and a technical recession.
In June, when the coalition was voted in, it pledged to make reducing the budget deficit a top priority.
The PSD often found itself at loggerheads with Bolojan over some of the austerity measures, which included tax hikes, public sector wage and pension freezes, and cutting public spending and public administration jobs.
PSD said Bolojan had "failed to implement any genuine reform" in his 10 months leading the government and said Romania needs a leader who is "capable of collaboration."
Bolojan said that he took tough but necessary fiscal measures that effectively "regained the trust of the markets in the Romanian government."
The PSD would be needed to form a pro-European parliamentary majority. The party has previously ruled out entering a government with AUR.
George Simion, the AUR leader, said on Tuesday that voters had "supported and wanted water, food, energy," but had "received taxes, war and poverty."
"We assume the future of this country, a future government and restore the hope of the Romanians," he said. "Romania must go back to the vote of the Romanians."
Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, said the crisis will likely lead to a stalemate, since "no one has a majority, or a coalition, and it will take the president...weeks to find such a majority and name a new prime minister, prolonging the indecision."
"At this moment, there are two tentative options for a new Cabinet, both difficult to achieve; either a reshuffled coalition, without Bolojan, in the same formation...or a minority Cabinet, rather led by PSD and satellites from populist parties, like AUR, or other small groups," he said.
"A PSD-AUR official Cabinet is not a possibility today because the president will not endorse it."
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