Romania eyes PSD‑PNL‑UDMR coalition government, excluding USR and Ilie Bolojan

Former finance minister Adrian Câciu said negotiations could produce a new majoritarian cabinet by the end of July, built around the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR). He dismissed the notion of a “government of armistice” and stressed that the coalition would be formed without the Save Romania Union (USR) and without Ilie Bolojan, whose role he described as “radical”.

PSD deputy‑mayor Ionuț Pucheanu echoed the desire to keep the “marriage” with PNL but to change the “bride”, criticizing Bolojan’s implementation of the coalition agreement. Pucheanu added that the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) could be allowed to govern temporarily “to be exposed”. He also warned that the current dead‑lock stems from how the government is run, not from the fact of governing itself.

Legal expert Adrian Toni Neacșu argued that the president, Nicușor Dan, cannot unilaterally solve the impasse; the responsibility lies with the parliamentary parties to forge a majority. He noted that constitutional provisions already allow the formation of a government once a viable coalition is found, and called for parties to be flexible in the coming week.