Romania's government falls, far-right firewall crumbles

Romania's Social Democrats have joined forces with the far right to oust the pro-reform government of Ilie Bolojan.

The economic impact will be serious; the political cost high.

Is the far right on the brink of power?

Romanian governments rarely stay in power for long.

The last time a Romanian prime minister completed a full term was between 2004 and 2008.

Since the constitutional crisis of 2012, the country has had no less than 11 elected prime ministers, seven interim leaders and 19 different cabinets.

In short, Romania has been chronically unstable for years.

Now, another government has fallen .

Government loses no-confidence vote
On Tuesday, the cabinet led by Ilie Bolojan of the National Liberal Party (PNL) was ousted in a parliamentary no-confidence vote.

Bolojan had been in office for just 10 months.

But this is not just another Romanian government crisis.

For the first time in Romania's post-communist history, a party from the democratic, pro-European camp — the Social Democratic Party (PSD) — joined forces with a far-right, pro-Russian party, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), to file a no-confidence motion in parliament and then vote together to bring down a government.

While there have been previous instances of such joint votes in the Romanian parliament, this was the first coordinated, jointly planned action of this kind.

This means that the "firewall" against the far right , which was explicitly agreed and announced last year by all pro-democracy parliamentary parties, has collapsed — even though the PSD is playing down that interpretation of events.

The toppling of the government could now pave the way for the far right to take power if a snap election is called.

The no-confidence vote was preceded by a months-long crisis within Ilie Bolojan's cabinet.

Things came to a head two weeks ago when the Social Democrats withdrew their ministers from the government and began gathering support in parliament for a no-confidence motion.

Bolojan's government took office in June 2025, during a major political crisis, pledging ambitious reforms.

At the time, Romania had just put two difficult presidential elections behind it: the first in November 2024, which was annulled on the grounds of foreign interference, and the second in May 2025 , in which George Simion , leader of the far-right AUR party, only narrowly lost, garnering just over 46% of the vote.

In parliamentary elections held in late 2024, three far-right parties — including the AUR — together got about 30% of the vote.

After his victory in May 2025, Romania's newly elected president, the liberal-conservative former civic activist Nicusor Dan , called for a firewall against the far right and the formation of a strong pro-European coalition, which was subsequently formed.

The new government took office in the middle of a severe economic crisis marked by a budget deficit of over 9%, diminishing growth, an oversized state and administrative apparatus and stalled reforms across multiple sectors.

One of the government's first measures was to introduce a series of tax hikes, including an increase in sales tax.

Although this sparked public discontent, opinion polls indicate that many Romanians still feel that the Bolojan government's reform agenda is necessary.

The government also pushed through one of the most sweeping reform programs in Romania's recent history, targeting the state and administrative apparatus, state-owned companies and the pension system.

Tens of thousands of positions were cut at both the national and local government levels, bureaucratic structures were streamlined, and costly, redundant jobs in state-owned enterprises were slashed.

The most controversial reform, which triggered tension within the coalition last fall, was the abolition of the special pension scheme for members of the judiciary .

Under the old system, these civil servants could retire before the age of 50 with a pension averaging €5,000 ($5,800) a month, in some cases as much as €15,000.

The average pension in Romania stands at just €500–€600.

The Bolojan government began phasing out these special pensions and raising the retirement age.

It remains to be seen whether this reform will remain in place.

Despite indications that the reform agenda was having a positive effect — for example, by reducing the budget deficit — the PSD's opposition to Bolojan's course increased in recent months.

Despite its name, the Social Democratic Party is a successor of the former Communist Party that now espouses some right‑wing populist and nationalist positions and even has a small far-right faction.

Although the PSD, which was part of previous governments, is not solely responsible for Romania's economic crisis and backlog of reforms, it does bear considerable responsibility.

This explains why Bolojan described the no-confidence motion against his government as "dishonest, cynical and artificial" and accused the PSD of having played "the role of the opposition" in the government right from the word go.

The Social Democrats' cooperation with the far right was greeted with concern and criticism across Europe, particularly within the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Group in the European Parliament , of which the PSD is a member.

It is unclear what will happen next.

The president can repeatedly nominate a candidate for the post of prime minister and task that person with forming a government.

The proposed cabinet would then face a vote of confidence in parliament.

Were it to lose, the process would start again from scratch.

If several attempts are unsuccessful, the president can dissolve parliament — although he is not obliged to do so.

Of the coalition parties, some members of Bolojan's PNL are advocating for the formation of a new government with the Social Democrats.

The USR and UDMR are opposed to the idea.

The far-right AUR has in the past repeatedly ruled out a coalition with the Social Democrats, because it views it as an "establishment party." It wants a snap election as soon as possible in the hope of being able to increase its support from the general election in 2024.

President Nicusor Dan, however, quickly put the brakes on such a scenario.

In a brief statement late on Tuesday, he described the no-confidence vote as a "democratic decision" and called for calm, saying that there is a pro-Western, pro-European consensus in the country.

Dan ruled out early elections and expressed confidence that at the end of all consultations and constitutional procedures, Romania "will once again have a pro-Western government."
This article was originally published in German.

Is racism taking root in Romania?

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video