“Cordon coalition” in Romania. The situation after the parliamentary elections

The parliamentary majority will be made up of: the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL), the center-right Salvation Union Romania (USR), Democratic Union Węgrów in Romania (UDMR) and a group of MPs representing national minorities. The radical right-wing AUR (Union for the Unity of Romanians), SOS Romania and the Party of Young People (POT) will remain in opposition.

The statement after Tuesday's talks emphasized that the formations included in the coalition “announce their strong commitment to create a pro-European majority in the Romanian parliament, a pro-European government and support for a possible common, pro-European candidate” in the presidential elections. In the first round, Calin Georgescu unexpectedly won, running as an independent candidate but also representing the extreme right.

Two days before the planned second round of the presidential elections, the Constitutional Court decided to cancel them, citing the article of the constitution that states the court's responsibility for “ensuring compliance with the procedure for electing the president.” Romanian intelligence reported that the activities of Tik Tok accounts promoting right-wing Calin Georgescu were coordinated by a “state entity”. In turn, a declassified document of the Ministry of Internal Affairs shows that a pattern of activities similar to the one in the case of the Georgescu campaign was identified in Ukraine in the period preceding the commencement of aggression by Russia.

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The new parliamentary majority announced that its goal would be to “start a dialogue in order to quickly form a pro-European government.”

“In the coming days, the four parties and representatives of national minorities will work on a joint governance program based on development and reforms, which will take into account the priorities of Romanian citizens. Thus, the parties agreed to establish a joint commission for the implementation of the governance program and working groups on areas of action “We agreed that a specific plan for efficiency and reduction of public expenditure and bureaucracy in public administration is needed,” the press release said.

It was also agreed that the coalition's goal will be to increase the current pace of investments and reforms under the National Reconstruction Plan. “The current moment is decisive for Romania. A profound change is needed and pro-European parties take this responsibility. Pro-European parties strive to increase trust in institutions and the political class through good governance, transparency in the spending of public money and respect for citizens,” it was noted.

Some experts describe the coalition of pro-European parties as “cordon-like” towards those with more than 30 percent in parliament. mandates of radical right-wing groups – AUR (Union for the Unity of Romanians), SOS Romania and the Party of Young People (POT).

According to the decision of the Constitutional Court, the presidential election process in Romania will start anew. Even before the official cancellation of the second round, Calin Georgescu stated in an interview for the BBC that he would end all support for Ukraine if he took the highest office in the country, and Vladimir Putin he called himself a “patriot and leader”. After the Russian aggression began, he also stated that the Kremlin leader “loves his country very much and is surrounded by professionals.”

He also announced that Romania would remain in the EU NATO. At the same time, he stressed that everything would be “negotiated” and focused on the interest of his country.

After the announcement of his unexpected victory in the first round, protests began in Romania. Demonstrators compared themselves to the anti-communist revolution of 1989, during which dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown.

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