Romania’s president taps MEP Eugen Tomac to form government amid coalition tensions

Romanian President Nicușor Dan has nominated MEP Eugen Tomac (Popular Movement Party, Renew) to become the country’s next prime minister, entrusting him with the task of building a government capable of securing parliamentary support.

Announcing the decision on Thursday, Dan said he had deliberately chosen a figure independent from the parties represented in parliament but with sufficient political experience to negotiate with all major political forces.

“Romania needs consensus across many parties on many issues, and that requires political experience,” Dan said. He described the nomination as “an act of responsibility” and called on political parties to show a similar approach in the coming negotiations.

Tomac accepted the nomination, pledging to form a government focused on delivering results rather than political bargaining.

“I will propose a technical team of specialists, not a political cabinet,” he said, arguing that Romania needs long-term national projects capable of surviving changes of government.

The nomination comes at a sensitive moment for Romanian politics, with coalition-building efforts complicated by divisions among the country’s pro-Western parties. One month ago Romania’s parliament voted to remove Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan’s minority government after a no-confidence motion filed by the opposition Social Democrats (PSD) and the hard-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) passed with a large majority.

Romania’s parliament ousts pro-EU minority government in no-confidence vote

Political sources cited by Romanian media said Tomac had already begun informal discussions with party leaders before receiving the official mandate, after being informed that he was under consideration for the premiership.

Those talks have reportedly focused on assembling both a governing majority and a future cabinet. However, negotiations face significant obstacles. The National Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union are said to remain reluctant to support a government that includes ministers backed by the Social Democratic Party, complicating efforts to secure a stable majority.

Tomac, 44, is one of the most recognisable Romanian politicians associated with the country’s diaspora and relations with neighbouring Moldova. Born in the village of Babele in Ukraine’s Odesa region, he moved to Romania at the age of 17 through a scholarship programme for ethnic Romanians living abroad.

A trained historian, journalist and politician, he has served in the European Parliament since 2019 and is currently in his second term. In Brussels, he sits on the Committee on Culture and Education, the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, the Special Committee on the European Democracy Shield, and parliamentary bodies dealing with relations with Moldova and Eastern Partnership countries.

Before moving to European politics, Tomac spent nearly a decade in the Romanian parliament, serving as an MP between 2012 and 2019. During that period, he chaired the parliamentary committee responsible for Romanian communities abroad after winning nearly 79% of the diaspora vote in the 2012 elections.

His political career has been closely linked to diaspora affairs. Between 2009 and 2012, he served as state secretary for Romanians abroad in successive governments. Earlier, he worked in the Presidential Administration and later became a state adviser dealing with international relations and European policies.

Tomac has also maintained close ties with former Romanian president Traian Băsescu and currently serves as honorary adviser to President Dan on relations with Romanians abroad, a position he has held since October 2025.

His nomination nevertheless arrives amid scrutiny over family-linked business interests. Prior to the announcement, Romanian outlet G4Media reported that a company owned by Tomac’s mother-in-law had benefited in 2025 from funding under Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), the country’s implementation framework for the EU recovery fund.

According to the report, official documentation listed contact details belonging to Tomac’s sister-in-law, who is involved in managing another PNRR-funded project within the public sector. The report also noted that Tomac’s wife, Diana Postică, had previously worked for the company and currently serves as vice-consul at Romania’s embassy in Brussels.

No allegations of wrongdoing have been brought against Tomac, and neither the president nor the prime minister-designate addressed the issue during Thursday’s announcement.

The immediate challenge for Tomac will be transforming his nomination into a viable parliamentary coalition. While President Dan’s decision signals a preference for a technocratic and broadly pro-European administration, Romania’s fragmented political landscape means that forming a government will require difficult compromises among parties that remain divided over both policy and cabinet appointments.

Sources: EUalive’s partners Umbrela Strategica, Espress

Caption: Romanian Prime Minister-designate Eugen Tomac (L) shakes hands with Romanian President Nicusor Dan (R) after being nominated to form a new government at Cotroceni Palace in Bucharest, Romania, 4 June 2026. Tomac’s proposed cabinet and governing program must secure a parliamentary vote of confidence. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT