Romania's president nominates fourth prime minister-designate in bid to end prolonged crisis

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian President Nicusor Dan nominated a diplomat and former journalist on Monday to be prime minister, his fourth attempt to end a monthslong political crisis after three previous nominees failed to form a government .

Dan nominated 55-year-old Luca Niculescu, a secretary of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a national coordinator for Romania’s Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development accession process since 2022.

The nomination comes less than a week after lawmakers rejected a new Cabinet proposed by Siegfried Muresan , Dan's third designated prime minister tasked with ending the prolonged deadlock.

At the presidential Cotroceni Palace in the capital Bucharest, Dan described Niculescu as someone with the best chance of securing a parliamentary majority and said it's “vital and urgent for Romania to have a government.”

“Mr. Niculescu is free to decide on the specific political-technocratic government formula following in-depth discussions with the parties,” he said. “What matters most is securing a parliamentary majority.”

Dan added that a government led by Niculescu would “maintain Romania’s pro-Western course and honor all financial targets and commitments the country has undertaken.”

After accepting his nomination, Niculescu said he is aware Romania “has long been going through a period of political uncertainty” against a backdrop of economic and international difficulties, and that he will hold consultations with political parties in the coming days and then present a governing team.

“My first task will be to build a parliamentary majority,” he said. “I cannot promise miracles, but I can promise a serious approach to the use of public funds, economic predictability, adherence to Romania’s commitments, the acceleration of investments and reforms, and a state that functions effectively for its citizens.”

“I will hold discussions with parliamentary parties to form this majority and agree upon a realistic governing program,” he added.

Niculescu is a former ambassador of Romania to France, Andorra and Monaco, and between 1992 and 2016, he worked as a journalist. He graduated from the Bucharest University of Journalism in 1995 and holds a master’s degree from the Strasbourg University Center for Journalism Education.

The political crisis has gripped Romania since May, when Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan was ousted in a no-confidence motion jointly filed by the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, which was part of the governing coalition, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, or AUR.

After the new nomination, PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said Dan's new nomination “continues to defy parliamentary arithmetic” and said his party would hold a meeting of the National Permanent Bureau to analyze the proposal.

“After four failed right-wing prime ministers, we are seeing a new designation that disregards the party that won the elections,” he said in a post on Facebook. “If the Prime Minister-designate continues to champion Bolojan’s austerity policies, I believe the only way to get Romania back on the right track is to hold early elections."

Dan made two nominations in June. The president can dissolve Parliament if it rejects two Cabinet proposals within 60 days of the first rejection. The next election is scheduled for 2028.

Last week’s failed vote on Muresan’s Cabinet proposal raised the chances of early elections at a time of regional security concerns, with the NATO member confronting a sharp increase in drone incursions linked to Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine.

“A stronger state is also a better-protected state; given the war on our border, we need firmness and vision to defend Romania,” Niculescu said.

When the previous coalition came to power in 2025 , Bolojan was sworn in with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-Communist history and reducing a massive budget deficit.

McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.