Nicuşor Dan, Romania’s newly inaugurated president, used his swearing-in ceremony on 26 May 2025 to outline an ambitious agenda focused on fiscal discipline, anti-corruption, and sweeping institutional reforms, according to Euractiv.
Addressing Parliament amid political tensions—marked by national-oriented MPs turning their backs during his speech—Dan vowed to tackle the country’s budget deficit and restore public trust in governance.
Dan immediately spotlighted Romania’s fiscal challenges, stating that meaningful reform requires a government backed by a solid parliamentary majority. Informal coalition talks are set to begin on 27 May, with Dan urging parties to avoid recycling discredited figures.
It would be ideal if the people Romanians see in power weren’t exactly those they voted against.
Negotiations with the PSD, however, are fraught. The party is split between factions advocating opposition and those demanding the premiership. Dan’s USR party, which secured 28% of the vote, faces a delicate balancing act to form a stable coalition.
Dan pledged a “fundamental transformation” of Romania’s institutions, calling on civil society to apply “constructive pressure” to drive accountability. He reinstated high-level corruption as a national security priority, reversing former President Klaus Iohannis’ decision to remove it from the threat list.
On foreign policy, Dan emphasised strengthening transatlantic relations while supporting EU efforts to build “autonomous defence architectures” and reduce dependencies in energy, technology, and supply chains. He vowed to modernise Romania’s military, pledging to “gradually increase defence spending as a share of GDP” to counter so-called “hybrid threats.”
