President Nicușor Dan has nominated Adrian Veștea (pictured left), the president of Brașov County Council and the vice-president of the National Liberal Party (PNL), for the prime minister job after Eugen Tomac gave up his mandate to form a government.

Dan called the nomination “the best political solution,” one taken following consultations with the political parties. He thanked Tomac for taking on the task of forming a government and said neither him, nor Tomac “treated governing like a game.”

In his turn, Veștea said he wanted “a political government,” one who would undertake “real reforms” and “keep Romania on its pro-Western track.” He said he was open to discussions with the pro-Western, democratic parties in Romania’s Parliament.

UPDATE: Reacting to the news, acting prime minister Ilie Bolojan, the president of PNL, said president Dan did not inform him or the party’s leadership about Veștea’s nomination. He called this “a hostile act” and “an attempt to break PNL,” Digi24 reported.

The new nomination comes after Eugen Tomac failed to secure the backing of the National Liberal Party, while the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) were also reluctant to back Tomac, arguing that a technocratic cabinet that only had the support of PSD would not be able to govern and carry out needed reforms. PSD seemed tentatively willing to back Tomac’s government, provided that several fiscal measures initiated by the party would be implemented.

The nomination of Tomac came on June 4, a month after the collapse of the government headed by prime minister Ilie Bolojan, the leader of the National Liberal Party (PNL), following a no-confidence vote in Parliament on May 5. The no-confidence motion was submitted by members of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the hard-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), an opposition party.

Bolojan led a government backed by a coalition made up of PSD, PNL, Save Romania Union (USR), and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR). After repeatedly clashing with Bolojan over various measures, PSD withdrew its support for the PM and exited the government.

Tomac, an adviser of president Nicușor Dan, was meant to lead a technocratic government. He is a member of the European Parliament and the president of the People's Movement Party (Partidul Mișcarea Populară), which did not make the threshold to be represented in Romania's Parliament. He presented his would-be-government's program only a day ago.

The president described Veștea as someone well-acquainted with the local administration, who was involved in attracting EU funds and developed the Brașov Airport.

Adrian Veștea has been a member of PNL for more than 30 years. He was a mayor of Râșnov, a town in Brașov county, for three mandates, from 2004 to 2016. He was the president of Brașov County Council from 2016 to 2023, and served as Minister for Development in the government of Marcel Ciolacu, from June 2023 to December 2024. Following the local elections of 2024, he became again the president of Brașov County Council, a position he currently holds.

Following the nomination, he has ten days to come up with a list of ministers and a governing program, which need to be approved by Parliament. If the Parliament rejects the president’s proposal, the process restarts.

(Photo: screen capture from live broadcast)

simona@romania-insider.com