One of the four Romanian parties expected to form a new Romanian coalition government demanded clarification of tax and spending plans, which stalled coalition negotiations. Meanwhile, the situation is exacerbated by the country’s struggle to contain the political chaos that followed the overthrow of the presidential election.
Earlier, four pro-European parties reached an agreement in principle after parliamentary elections to form a governing majority, in which three ultranationalist and far-right groups won more than a third of the seats. However, the centrist opposition Union Save Romania (USR) party said transparent discussions on budget plans were needed to continue negotiations on the government. The budget deficit is forecast to reach 8.6% of GDP this year, the highest in the EU.
As parliament’s mandate ends on Saturday, pressure is mounting to reach an agreement. “There is no financial capacity left to continue this type of farming. The debate was that they wanted to join a government that knew exactly what the costs and taxes would be,” said Christian Ghinya, USR negotiator. “They presented tax increase scenarios that we think are unacceptable. People must not lie, people voted for extremists and radicals because the former political power field was constantly lying,” he noted.
If coalition talks are not concluded by the end of the week, the current government could remain temporarily in power but will not be able to adopt the 2025 budget or call new presidential elections because Romania’s Supreme Court invalidated the vote on allegations of “Russian interference.”
Translated and edited by L. Earth
