Romania PM pick: Nicusor Dan taps Siegfried Muresan amid deadlock

Romanian President Nicusor Dan on Thursday nominated Liberal MEP Siegfried Muresan as prime minister, in the latest attempt to end a political crisis that has gone on for more than four months. The move came after Dan's previous two nominees failed to secure the support needed to form a government.

Dan said he picked Muresan, 44, after consultations with political parties, even though there was no clear majority. "We are more than four months after the government was dismissed and during this period, we have had hundreds of hours of discussions, both together and separately, with political parties to find a solution to this crisis," Dan said at Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest. "Romania needs a government." He added, "I chose to designate for the position of prime minister the person who has the most votes cast today by the parties in the consultations today. This person is Siegfried Muresan." Dan also said, "We do not have a clear majority, despite all these hours of discussions."

Shortly after the nomination, Muresan said in a Facebook post, "I accept the proposal made by the president of Romania." Dan said Muresan's experience in the European Parliament made him suitable for the post. Muresan has been an MEP since 2014 and is vice-chair of the European People's Party group in the European Parliament. He now has 10 days to present a cabinet to Parliament.

The latest nomination follows the collapse of the previous coalition government. When that coalition took office in June 2025, its main priority was to reduce the budget deficit, but prime minister Ilie Bolojan frequently clashed with the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, over austerity measures. Bolojan, who had taken office with the aim of ending one of Romania's worst political crises since the end of Communism, was removed after a no-confidence motion backed by the PSD, which was part of the coalition, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians. He has continued as interim prime minister since then.

Dan had earlier nominated Adrian Vestea for the premiership, but Parliament rejected his proposed government. Before that, Eugen Tomac withdrew before a parliamentary vote. Thursday's nomination also drew a sharp response from the opposition. PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said he noted with "surprise and disappointment" Dan's decision and had called a meeting of his party's National Permanent Bureau on Monday to "carefully analyse" the proposal. In a Facebook post, he said, "It is difficult to understand the reasoning behind the head of state's choice of someone like Muresan. Romania, however, finds itself in an extremely difficult situation."

Muresan studied at Bucharest's Academy of Economic Studies between 2000 and 2004 and later completed a Master's programme in Economics and Management Science at Humboldt University in Berlin. Before entering the European Parliament, he worked as an adviser to the European People's Party.

Cristian Andrei, a political consultant based in Bucharest, said Muresan's nomination was unlikely to produce a majority among Romania's pro-European parties and that he expected "further political stalemate". He told The Associated Press, "The centre-right coalition around Muresan has very little chance to win the support of the Parliament." He added, "But it also opens the door for a future collaboration between the Social Democrats and the populists. The president is putting blame on the political parties for not being able to create such a majority." Under an earlier power-sharing agreement, the prime minister's post was due to rotate in 2027 from Bolojan to a PSD premier, while a general election is scheduled for 2028. For now, Dan's third nomination has reopened the effort to form a government, but uncertainty over parliamentary backing remains.