Romania's President Nicușor Dan has appointed a new prime minister-designate after the previous nominee abandoned his attempt to form a government, marking a new stage in the EU country's political crisis.
Dan on Sunday tasked Adrian Veștea, a little-known member of the centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL), with forming a government.
The move came after Eugen Tomac, a European lawmaker who was nominated for the office of prime minister 10 days ago, abandoned his own bid, saying he no longer saw a viable path to securing a parliamentary majority.
Veștea is expected to present his proposed Cabinet to parliament for a confidence vote.
He currently serves as the county council president of the central Romanian county of Brașov and was development minister from 2023-24. Within the PNL, he belongs to a small faction that is challenging party leader and former prime minister Ilie Bolojan.
Bolojan, widely regarded in Romania as reform-oriented and pro-European, was ousted on May 5 in a parliamentary no confidence vote initiated by the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which was previously part of the governing coalition, and the far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). He continues to govern on an interim basis with limited powers.
The PSD, the largest force in parliament, had sought to block Bolojan's planned reforms, which would have cost state-owned enterprises lucrative contracts with private companies linked to the party.
Bolojan criticized Dan's new nomination, describing it as "a hostile act" and an obvious attempt to split the PNL. According to Romanian media, Dan views Bolojan as a personal rival and is seeking to sideline him.
