Romania's president nominates Adrian Vestea as prime minister after his previous pick withdraws

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BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian President Nicusor Dan nominated a former mayor to be prime minister on Sunday as he seeks to end a political crisis after his previous pick for the premiership withdrew after failing to win political support.

Dan nominated 53-year-old Adrian Vestea, a career politician from central Brasov County and longtime member of the National Liberal Party, to try to form a government. Vestea is Dan’s second prime ministerial nomination this month, after his previous pick, Eugen Tomac, failed to present a cabinet to Parliament within 10 days.

“Eugen Tomac withdrew his mandate this morning and … I nominate Adrian Vestea as prime minister,” Dan said at the presidential Cotroceni Palace, in Bucharest. The nomination will need to be approved by lawmakers.

Dan said that Vestea was suitable for the role because he had “gone through all the administrative stages” throughout his political career, during which he served as mayor of a small town and as county council president of Brasov, where he attracted European funds.

“He was a successful mayor, he was a successful county council president, he was a successful minister,” Dan said. “He is a categorically pro-Western person … a person who has worked for a long time with budgets. So I am convinced that he will successfully fulfill this task.”

Vestea, who served as a development minister between 2023 and 2024, said in a statement at the palace that he wants a “political government that will undertake real reforms and keep Romania on a pro-Western path.”

“We are the sixth largest country in Europe, and we need to put a major emphasis on development,” he said. “Which I will do from day one.”

Dan’s two nominations for the prime ministerial role this month come after a no-confidence vote toppled Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in May. A general election is not scheduled until 2028.

Romania has one of the highest budget deficits in the EU, with rampant inflation and a technical recession. When the coalition came to power in June 2025, it made reducing the budget deficit a priority. Bolojan was sworn in with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-communist history, but lasted less than a year.