Romanian president Nicusor Dan said the broad political agreement on key national priorities remains valid after the Parliament approved key reforms under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), but gave no indication of progress in talks to form a new government, G4media.ro reported.

Romania has been without a fully empowered government since May 5, after the previous administration lost its parliamentary majority. The political deadlock could open the way to snap elections from August 20 if a second prime minister-designate fails to secure Parliament’s approval, following an initial failed nomination.

The president’s statement came after Parliament approved several PNRR-related reforms needed to unlock European Union funding. Dan has previously said the political agreement covers maintaining Romania’s fiscal trajectory, preparing the 2027 budget before the end of this year and pursuing euro adoption.

Meanwhile, talks on forming a new government have continued without a publicly announced breakthrough. Bucharest mayor and influential National Liberal Party (PNL) member Ciprian Ciucu said on Digi24 on August 2 that consultations had continued over the previous two weeks and that several technocratic candidates for prime minister had been discussed.

Ciucu said he did not know the identity of the candidates but suggested that the PNL could accept “genuine technocrats” as prime minister. His comments came amid differences over the composition of a potential new administration.

Social Democratic Party (PSD) president Sorin Grindeanu said last week that a new governing coalition could emerge after August 15 and suggested that a sufficiently large faction of the PNL could join his initiative. Grindeanu has also indicated that the PSD could seek to form a majority without the PNL and Save Romania Union (USR).

The possibility of a technocratic government has also been raised by Ciucu, a supporter of acting prime minister and PNL president Ilie Bolojan. His proposal differs from Dan’s initiative to nominate his adviser Eugen Tomac, who would form a cabinet including professionals with visible political affiliations.

“We are not staying in this deadlock. I am very optimistic that somewhere towards the end of August, after August 15, we will have a government with full powers. And that is good for Romania,” Grindeanu said on Antena 3 on July 27.

iulian@romania-insider.com

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