Parliamentarians in Romania voted on Tuesday to remove Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan from office.

The motion passed with 281 votes in favour across the 464 seats of the two houses of parliament, a majority of almost 50.

It’s unclear what that will lead to in the debt-riddled EU member that has long been unable to join the eurozone because of its economic difficulties.

Even more lawmakers voted to oust Bolojan than the 254 who had supported the motion to table a vote, any tally above 233 would have been enough to remove him.

George Simion, the leader of Romania’s largest far-right party, the AUR, celebrated the result online.

“The Bolojan government has just been ousted by the Romanian Parliament. An end to ten months during which the so-called pro-Europeans have delivered nothing but: taxes, war, and poverty,” Simion wrote. “The voice of the Romanian people was heard today. Time for national reconciliation!”

Rainbow coalition

Amid the rising influence of the far-right opposition in parliament, Romania formed a rainbow coalition last year after President Nicusor Dan won the May 2025 rerun of the presidential elections.

Dan named Bolojan as his prime minister in June after striking a deal between four parties, Bolojan’s centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL), the Social Democrats (PSD) – the largest bloc in parliament with 93 seats – and two other pro-EU parties.

The new government inherited wobbling public finances and the need to adhere to EU excessive debt procedures, which Romania has been subject to continuously since 2020. In the last quarter of 2025, the public deficit hit 7.9% of GDP, compared to the EU rule forbidding members from exceeding 3%.

The swingeing cuts required to try to keep in touch with European debt targets were particularly unpopular with the PSD, which last month left the coalition and filed the no-confidence motion along with the far-right opposition parties.

The PSD’s erstwhile allies, more centrist or centre-right pro-European parties, have been highly critical of this step, saying it risks normalising the once-ostracised, pro-Russian and Eurosceptic right-wing parties.

The PSD on the other hands asserts that it has ‘no post-motion political agreement whatsoever’ with the far right, only ‘a common goal’ to dismiss the Bolojan government.

What happens next?

What will happen now that Bolojan has fallen is not so clear. He will most likely lose his position, and the more probable scenario is more protracted coalition negotiations.

These could even end up yielding the same four-party alliance as before – as all four parties are needed to claim a stable majority. A new prime minister would seem likely, perhaps also from a different party within the alliance.

President Nisusor Dan on Monday had tried to assure reporters and other European leaders assembled in Armenia that he would work to maintain stability and fiscal discipline.

“Political discussions will be difficult, but it is my responsibility as president – and that of the political parties – to steer Romania in the right direction,” he told reporters. “I invite ‌you to keep calm. I would like to tell ‌markets ​that Romania is sticking to its commitments on the deficit.”

Romania’s currency, the leu, has dropped slightly in value against the euro in recent days amid the uncertainty. Bucharest plans to join the eurozone single currency but as yet does not meet the economic requirements to do so.

DW