He has a delicate constitution and is very pleasant in conversation. He speaks gently, pays attention to interlocutors, even if they ramble, and always manages to leave a pleasant impression.
All journalists reporting from Brussels and Strasbourg know Siegfried Mureșan, the proposal of PNL, USR, and UDMR for the position of prime minister.
Although he is open with the press, many reporters criticize him for using a too diplomatic language, his statements being calculated and, most of the time, unremarkable compared to politicians in the country.
His political education is of German origin. In 2006, he was an intern in the Bundestag, the equivalent of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies.
Siegfried Mureșan, 45 years old, was born in Hunedoara. He graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest and has a master's degree in management from Humboldt University in Berlin.
Despite the diplomacy and lack of spectacular communication, Siegfried Mureșan has been and remains extremely connected both to Romanian politics, but especially to European politics.
Since 2016, two years after being elected as a Member of the European Parliament, supported by Traian Băsescu, the President of Romania at that time, Siegfried Mureșan has become the negotiator of the EU budget, representing the European Parliament, at the proposal of the European People's Party.
Today, after 10 years, Siegfried Mureșan is a co-rapporteur, chief negotiator, alongside Carla Tavares, on behalf of the European socialists, for the EU budget for the period 2028-2034.
Snap Elections
The proposal of Ilie Bolojan, supported by Dominic Fritz and Kelemen Hunor, represents a check to Sorin Grindeanu.
Political commentators tallying the votes in Parliament argue that Siegfried Mureșan will not succeed in forming a majority in the Legislature.
However, it must be noted that we are facing the second designation, made by Nicușor Dan, which will go to Parliament, and the rejection will provide the president with the opportunity to trigger the procedures for the dismissal of the legislative body and the organization of snap elections.
On Tuesday, PNL committed to voting for a PSD minority government, with certain conditions regarding the governance program. From Tuesday until today, PNL has changed its position. It is the responsibility of the parties to negotiate among themselves a majority for any government formula they consider appropriate.
Nicușor Dan, President of Romania, Friday, June 26
The only ones fearing a new popular consultation are the social democrats and possibly UDMR.
AUR has stated that this is the political objective of the party, and PNL and USR have a good chance to improve their scores obtained in December 2024.
For the reasons stated above, in the event that Nicușor Dan designates Siegfried Mureșan to form the government, he has a chance to obtain the majority of votes in Parliament because the PSD deputies and senators are not ready for elections.
Dănilă Prepeleac, Head of PSD
We must not forget the informal support of the liberal MEP at the level of the European Union. How can Nicușor Dan not designate Siegfried Mureșan without compromising himself even more after declaring left and right that a functional government is needed to pass the laws necessary for funding from the PNRR and the SAFE program?
Which Romanian politician has more expertise in negotiations with the European Commission than Siegfried Mureșan? For ten years, that's exactly what he does every day.
It is true that Nicușor Dan will come out damaged from this affair, but the responsibility for triggering the political crisis belongs to him as well, to the same extent it belongs to the PSD.
The president could have done more to maintain the governing coalition, and after the motion of no confidence, he should not have rushed into political negotiations that he did not control, believing he could impose his will through the authority of his position. It turned out not to be the case at all.
As for Sorin Grindeanu, he got exactly what he deserved. After all the crisis he caused, true, under the pressure of the "family from Craiova," as Mayor Toma called the couple Olguța Vasilescu - Claudiu Manda, PSD, rationally, must vote for a PNL-USR-UDMR minority government, without being part of it, hoping that after six months, it will be the turn of the social democrats to govern.
Sorin Grindeanu has ended up just like Dănilă Prepeleac, the character from the story written by Ion Creangă, who went to the fair proudly with a pair of oxen and, after a series of increasingly disadvantageous transactions, returned home with a bag.
AUR has been, is, and will be perceived as an extremist party
The conspiracy between Nicușor Dan and Sorin Grindeanu, aiming to take political control of the PNL, is not over. The president's reaction on Friday, when he criticized the liberals for not keeping their word, is relevant in this regard.
Nicușor Dan's major problem is that neither the designation of Grindeanu nor that of Siegfried Mureșan are secure, but the support of the PSD leader is more dangerous for the head of state than his positioning alongside PNL, USR, and UDMR.
If he announces Sorin Grindeanu, within a few months, the process of suspending the president will be difficult to stop.
Even if the PSD leader obtains a fragile majority in Parliament, as announced by Petrișor Peiu, AUR senator, PSD cannot appoint extremist ministers in the government.
Despite the public whitewashing by a part of the institutional system in Romania, AUR is perceived in Europe as an extremist, pro-Russia, nationalist, and anti-Semitic party - in other words, a disaster, a time bomb that will quickly lead to the international isolation of the country.
If the AUR leaders do not receive positions, they will soon realize that the party is collapsing under the pressure of a large part of their audience that is anti-PSD.
Simion, in order to survive politically, will be forced to create a crisis, and the most convenient one will be the suspension of the president he has already talked about repeatedly.
The only way to move forward, at least for six months, without suspension and snap elections, is for the president to designate Siegfried Mureșan, and the PSD to vote for him, alongside PNL, USR, and UDMR, with Grindeanu settling for a supposed rotation in six months.
Grindeanu, a Time Bomb
There are plenty of possibilities and situations through which Nicușor Dan can obtain a majority for the social-democrat leader, but in the current political context, he will only be arming a time bomb that, when it explodes, will throw him out of the Cotroceni Palace.
Both he and the PSD, in my opinion, given that they have allied, are obliged to internalize the failure recorded in a crisis they themselves provoked and adapt to the new situation: a head of state controlled by the new political alliance of PNL, USR, and UDMR, and a PSD that must change its leadership and way of doing politics, accepting that it has become a party with 10-15% support.