Reacting to the fall of Ilie Bolojan’s government in Romania caused by a motion of censure tabled by the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and supported by the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), the Party of European Socialists (PES) gave its support to its Romanian member on Tuesday 5 May, calling for the swift formation of “a pro-European government".
According to the PES, the future Romanian government will have to “place social fairness at the heart of its agenda, prioritising public investment, strengthening social protection” and move away from “austerity-driven approaches (which) will be key to preventing deeper inequalities”.
“This is not just about political agreements, it is about protecting citizens from economic uncertainty, strengthening social fairness, and restoring trust in democratic institutions”, said PES Secretary General Giacomo Filibeck in a statement.
Supported by 281 votes out of the 233 required, the motion of censure was tabled to oppose the measures of the coalition government, to which the PSD belonged. These measures are designed to meet the budgetary commitments made by Bucharest as part of the excessive deficit procedure initiated against Romania.
Despite a deficit of 7.9% of national GDP in 2025, Romania avoided the continuation of a macroeconomic dialogue that could have led to the suspension of European funds, having made a commitment to consolidate its public finances (see EUROPE 13740/16). At this stage, the European Commission is still hoping that the Romanian authorities will implement the Romanian budget for 2026.
In the European Parliament, Siegfried Mureșan (EPP, Romanian) strongly condemned the alliance between the PSD and AUR parties that brought down the ‘Bolojan’ government, calling it “anti-European”.
The European Green Party (EGP) also said that the Romanian Social Democrats, in cooperation with the far right, had crossed “a red line that the PES had set itself”. “When mainstream parties collaborate with the far right, even tactically, they strengthen the forces that undermine democracy and the European Union itself”, said Ireland’s Ciarán Cuffe, Co-Chair of the EGP. He pointed out that such alliances, already tried out by the European People’s Party, “erode a fundamental democratic principle”. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)