Dan taps Adrian Vestea to try to form Romanian government

Romanian President Nicusor Dan nominated Adrian Vestea to become prime minister on Sunday, giving the Liberal politician a chance to assemble a government after Dan’s first pick stepped aside. The move matters because Romania is still without a settled government after a no-confidence vote removed former Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in May, according to Al Jazeera and The Associated Press.

Dan said on X that Eugen Tomac had withdrawn his mandate earlier Sunday, prompting him to put forward Vestea. Tomac had been trying to form a technocratic administration but did not have enough backing from parliamentary parties, Al Jazeera and AP reported.

Vestea, 52, is a member of the National Liberal Party and serves as county council president in Brasov, in central Romania. He is also a former mayor and was Romania’s development minister from 2023 to 2024, according to Al Jazeera and AP.

Under Romania’s process, Vestea has 10 days to propose a cabinet. He cannot take office unless parliament approves the new government in a confidence vote.

Dan cites Vestea’s local and ministerial record

Dan said Vestea was well suited for the job because he had held several levels of administrative office. The president pointed to Vestea’s work as mayor, county council president and minister, and said he had helped secure European funds, including for the Brasov airport project.

Vestea said in a statement that he wanted a political cabinet committed to reforms and to keeping Romania aligned with the West. He also said Romania should put a stronger focus on development from his first day in office, describing the country as Europe’s sixth-largest.

Parliamentary parties had previously said they preferred a minority government over a technocratic cabinet, according to Al Jazeera and AP. A minority cabinet would lack a majority of seats in parliament but would still be political rather than made up mainly of nonparty specialists.

Political pressure follows May government collapse

Dan’s latest nomination is his second attempt this month to fill the prime minister’s post. Bolojan’s government fell in May after a no-confidence vote, and Romania is not due to hold a general election until 2028, Al Jazeera and AP reported.

Romania is also under economic pressure. The country has one of the European Union’s highest budget deficits, while inflation remains high and the economy is in a technical recession, according to Al Jazeera and AP.

When a coalition government took office in June 2025, reducing the deficit was among its main goals. Bolojan was sworn in during what Al Jazeera and AP described as one of Romania’s worst political crises since the end of communist rule, but his administration lasted less than a year.

Vestea’s next task is to show he can secure enough parliamentary support to survive a confidence vote. If he fails, Romania’s political deadlock would continue as parties look for another way to form a government without an early election currently scheduled.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.