Romania gets new PM nominee after previous candidate withdraws

Romanian president Nicusor Dan on Sunday nominated former mayor Adrian Vestea as prime minister, his second attempt to form a government after his previous pick failed to secure political support and withdrew his mandate.Eugen Tomac, a European Union deputy, pulled out earlier Sunday after being unable to present a cabinet to Parliament within 10 days. Dan then announced Vestea as his replacement at the presidential Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest."Mr. Eugen Tomac withdrew his candidacy this morning, and under these circumstances, I am appointing Mr. Adrian Vestea as prime minister," the president said.Dan said a technocratic solution proposed by Tomac did not find the necessary support in Parliament.

"Neither Mr. Tomac nor I have been playing at governing," the president said. "At this point, however, it is clear that a political solution is the appropriate one."Dan praised Vestea's experience as a mayor, county council president and development minister in a previous government. "He was a successful mayor, he was a successful county council president, he was a successful minister," Dan said.The president added that Vestea is "a categorically pro-Western person" who has worked with budgets for a long time.

"I am convinced that he will successfully fulfill this task," Dan said.

Vestea promises reforms, pro-Western course

Vestea, 52, a longtime member of the National Liberal Party from central Brasov County, said he wants a "political government that will undertake real reforms and keep Romania on a pro-Western path.""I am taking on this responsibility at a time of political crisis," Vestea said, adding that he would negotiate with "the pro-Western democratic political parties in the Romanian Parliament."Vestea, who served as development minister between 2023 and 2024, said Romania is the sixth largest country in Europe and needs to put major emphasis on development. "Which I will do from day one," he said.The nomination will need to be approved by lawmakers.Dan's two prime ministerial nominations this month come after a no-confidence vote toppled Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in early May. Bolojan's former governing partner, the Social Democratic Party, quit the ruling coalition and teamed up with the far right to pass the motion.Romania has one of the highest budget deficits in the European Union, with rampant inflation and a technical recession. When the coalition came to power in June 2025, it made reducing the budget deficit a priority. Bolojan was sworn in with the aim of ending one of Romania's worst political crises since the fall of communism, but lasted less than a year.Liberal party leader Bolojan, the ousted former prime minister, said on Sunday that he had not been informed in advance of Vestea's nomination. He accused the president of "a hostile act and a clear attempt to split" the party.The nomination sets up a potential power struggle within the National Liberal Party, with Bolojan and his allies now at odds with Dan, who is backed by a different faction.