President Nicușor Dan calls new coalition talks at Cotroceni amid Romanian government deadlock

Romania has been without a stable government for more than two months after the Bolojan cabinet was dismissed on 5 May by a motion of censure. President Nicușor Dan has scheduled a meeting for Monday at the Cotroceni Palace with the leaders of the former governing coalition – PSD (Sorin Grindeanu), PNL (Ilie Bolojan), USR (Dominic Fritz), UDMR (Kelemen Hunor) and the head of the parliamentary minorities group (Varujan Pambuccian).

The president has rejected the nomination of Adrian Veștea, a liberal, because the PNL leadership was not consulted, and the earlier candidate Eugen Tomac withdrew his mandate. Two other candidates – PSD’s Sorin Grindeanu and Siegfried Mureșan, supported by PNL, USR and UDMR – have so far failed to secure a parliamentary majority.

PNL leader Alexandru Muraru warned Dan not to act as a “saviour” of PSD, while PSD chief Grindeanu accused PNL of opposing any real solution and cited figures on rising public debt, job losses and firm bankruptcies. The far‑right AUR announced willingness to negotiate for early elections.

President Dan said he does not see a solution yet and will ask each party leader to present a concrete majority proposal, stressing that the responsibility for forming a government lies with the parties, not the presidency.