Parliament dismisses motion against Finance Minister
The Senate has rejected the simple motion against Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare.
Mihai Pelin, 12.11.2026, 13:50
The simple motion filed against independent Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare was voted down in a plenary session of the Senate in Bucharest. The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR, the nationalist opposition) criticized him for presenting a selective picture of public finances and called for the regular publication of budget deficit estimates calculated under European methodology (ESA), alongside the cash-based deficit figures. The motion’s sponsors also demanded explanations regarding unpaid state arrears owed to private companies, overdue sick leave reimbursements, energy subsidies, and unpaid bills for projects under the ‘Anghel Saligny’ Program. Petrișor Peiu, the leader of the AUR senators.
“We call on the Minister of Finance to change the current budget execution reporting practice so that, at least once per quarter, the Ministry of Finance publishes an updated budget deficit estimate under the ESA methodology alongside the deficit calculated on a cash-flow basis.”
In response, Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare explained that the deficit is shrinking under both the national and European methodologies, both of which are mandated by law.
“Romania’s deficit is coming down. It is coming down under the national methodology, and it is coming down under the European methodology. It drops every quarter compared to the same quarter last year, and it drops in every completed fiscal year. There isn’t one set of numbers for Romanians and another for Brussels. There is a single budget execution, read through two different lenses, and both point in the exact same direction.”
The ruling PSD abstained from voting on the motion because, as Senator Eugen Dogariu explained, the country’s stability and well-being take priority.
“We don’t want to go back to chaos. We lived through six months of political, social, and economic uncertainty, and Romanians paid the price. We are not voting because we want to give the minister targeted by this motion the chance to deliver on his promises regarding budget transparency.”
According to the opposition PNL, the simple motion is proof of backroom collaboration between PSD and AUR. Gabriela Horga.
“PSD can’t openly attack its own minister, because they’d have to explain why they appointed him in the first place, so they’re attacking him by proxy through AUR, their new majority partners. PSD speaks through AUR whenever it lacks the courage or the political leeway to speak for itself, given that PSD is in power.”
The motion comes on the heels of the Ministry of Finance releasing budget execution figures for the first nine months of the year, which showed the deficit narrowing to 3.81% of GDP, down from 5.3% over the same period in 2025. Alexandru Nazare added that a comprehensive report on the state of public finances is currently underway and is expected to be finalized within days, once all data is gathered from the relevant budget holders. (VP)
