Dan wants to make respected interim President Ilie Bolojan his prime minister, and to frame his priority as cutting the government’s budget deficit to 7.5 percent of GDP.
“Dan must use his newly acquired political capital to facilitate difficult fiscal reforms through a coherent economic team.”
Dan told POLITICO he wanted to play a more “active” role in EU affairs, including negotiating the bloc’s seven-year budget.
Political parties in the country are seen as corrupt and self-serving, said Oana Popescu-Zamfir, a former government adviser in Romania and an expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations.
“It’s an open question how Nicușor Dan is going to be able to work with the parties, but he has done it as mayor.
BUCHAREST — Nicușor Dan, who won the election and will take the oath of office as Romania’s president on Monday, will have to perform a juggling act like a pro as he deals with severe economic difficulties and a history of political unrest.
Following his unexpected victory over hard-right extremist George Simion in the May 18 second-round presidential election, Dan, the independent mayor of Bucharest, will begin negotiations with the pro-European political parties in Romania’s parliament to form a new government.
It might take a few weeks to complete that procedure and choose a new prime minister. After everything is decided, Dan’s new government will have a very difficult inbox to deal with. Here, POLITICO outlines his main concerns.
creating a stable administration.
Although the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the largest of the pro-European parties in the parliament, is considering whether it would prefer to play an opposition role, Dan has stated that he will cooperate with them. Dan intends to remove the government’s budget deficit to 7.5 percent of GDP and appoint respected interim President Ilie Bolojan as his prime minister.
The PSD may have to pursue those objectives through a minority government if it refuses to join a ruling coalition. This would make the new administration intrinsically less stable and a riskier proposition for investors who are wary.
“Romania faces significant market trust issues, is under [an] EU excessive deficit procedure, and risks a sovereign rating downgrade,” said Elena Calistru, president and co-founder of Funky Citizens, a Bucharest-based civic NGO. “Dan needs to assemble a strong economic team and use his recently gained political capital to support challenging fiscal reforms. “..”.
Choosing a prime minister who can lead a parliamentary majority committed to fiscal reforms is necessary to achieve this. Calistru went on to say that Romania “must send strong signals to both markets and the European Commission that it is ready to implement serious fiscal discipline measures.”.
Europe’s top Romanian.
Romania should be a crucial ally for Western interests, particularly in Brussels, given its 19 million people, significant NATO presence (including what will soon be the Alliance’s largest European base), and strategic location on the Black Sea bordering Ukraine.
He wants to be more “active” in EU affairs, including negotiating the bloc’s seven-year budget, Dan told POLITICO. At a time when Donald Trump’s US is threatening to recede, he firmly supports maintaining aid to Ukraine and bolstering the EU’s independent defense capabilities, in contrast to his political rivals.
“At a time when eastern Europe is becoming more and more central to the European security architecture, Dan’s analytical approach could prove valuable in these complex negotiations,” Calistru said. Additionally, after years of fiscal lapse, this is a chance to restore Romania’s reputation in Brussels. “.”.
The time had come for Romania to have “a stronger voice” in Brussels, according to Otilia Nuțu, a public policy analyst at the think tank Expert Forum, located in Bucharest.
We ought to be taking a far more active role than we currently do in Romania, a sizable EU member state. We don’t know how long we can rely on U,” Nuțu continued. S. support, and we must start speaking out in favor of European unification. The president needs to make it very evident that we view Ukraine’s victory in the war as an existential concern. “.”.
According to Nuțu, part of that should involve advocating for the seizure of Russian assets that have been frozen and their transfer to Ukraine in order to fund defense and reconstruction.
rebuilding democracy.
Dan has stated that he wants to restore the country’s already shaky faith in democracy, which took a terrible turn when the presidential election was called off last year due to allegations of foreign meddling.
Addressing corruption at all levels, selecting strong new judges and prosecutors, and releasing long-standing political parties like the PSD and the National Liberal Party (PNL) from their hold on the political system are all part of this objective.
European Council on Foreign Relations expert Oana Popescu-Zamfir, a former Romanian government adviser, said the country’s political parties are perceived as corrupt and self-serving. According to her, “politics is generally not viewed as a respectable occupation or profession; it is seen as something you do if you want to get rich or gain influence,” she said. How Nicușor Dan will be able to cooperate with the parties is up in the air, but he has done so as mayor. His enormous learning capacity is what people are noticing these days. “”.
Dan told POLITICO that after years of failure, “the old political class” is under “societal pressure” to change the way it functions. According to him, “I believe they realized that they needed to make some significant changes.”.
