Romanian coalition collapses

USR PLUS has filed a censure motion against the government it is still part of as its ministers are set to resign Monday. The centrist party, a member of the Renew Europe group, wants to oust Prime Minister Florin Citu, but it would still like to remain in the coalition with conservative PNL and the Hungarian minority party UDMR, who are both part of the European People’s Party (EPP). However, Citu still has the full support of PNL.

To file the motion, USR PLUS has partnered with nationalist party AUR, leading to calls of foul play from all interested parties, including the country’s president and former PNL leader, Klaus Iohannis. The Social-Democrats (PSD) – who also wanted to call a no-confidence vote against the government – also criticised the move but are now saying they will not take sides in the current debacle, which could lead to the failure of the USR PLUS initiative.