Romania's pro-Western parties agree to form a majority government after political turmoil

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s pro-European parties agreed Wednesday to form a majority government made up of groupings that were traditionally on opposite sides and shutting out far-right nationalists who made significant gains in the election on Dec. 1.

Pro-Western parties won the most votes, with the leftist Social Democratic Party, or PSD, topping the polls. The PSD reached agreement late Tuesday to form a grand coalition with the center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, the reformist Save Romania Union party, USR, and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party.

The parliamentary election came hard on the heels of a presidential vote in which the far-right outsider Calin Georgescu won the first round. His surprise success plunged the European Union and NATO member country into turmoil as allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference emerged.

Days before the Dec. 8 presidential runoff, the Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the presidential race.

A statement from the new coalition said the parties would potentially support a “common pro-European candidate” in the new presidential elections. It isn’t yet clear whether Georgescu will be allowed to run in the new vote.

President Klaus Iohannis, whose second term is set to expire later this month, said a new date for the rerun presidential election would be set once the new government has taken office. He signed a decree on Wednesday to convene parliament on Dec. 20.

“In the coming days, the four parties and the representatives of the national minorities will work on a joint governing program, focusing on development and reforms, while addressing the priorities of Romanian citizens,” the coalition statement said.

Elena Lasconi, the leader of USR who was set to face Georgescu in the annulled presidential runoff, said after the agreement was reached that “Romania is going through a very difficult” period and that cutting state spending and reducing bureaucracy would be part of the governing program.

In 2021, despite historically being Romania’s two main opposition parties that have dominated post-communist politics, the PSD and the PNL formed an unlikely but increasingly strained coalition together with UDMR, which exited the Cabinet last year after a power-sharing dispute.

A poster of Elena Lasconi, presidential candidate who entered the presidential runoff in second position, is placed outside the closed voting station where Calin Georgescu, an independent candidate for president who won the first round of presidential elections, was supposed to vote, after Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the first round of presidential elections, in Mogosoaia, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

A man holds a religious icon outside the closed voting station where Calin Georgescu, an independent candidate for president who won the first round of presidential elections, was supposed to vote, after Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the first round of presidential elections, in Mogosoaia, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Supporters of the right wing Alliance for Unity of the Romanians (AUR) hold posters of Romania's President Klaus Iohannis reading "Iohannis Enough - Romania belongs to Romanians, not to dictators" in Bucharest, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

People walk by a newspaper stand after the Constitutional Court annulled the first round of the country's presidential election, days after allegations that Russia ran a coordinated online campaign to promote Calin Georgescu a far-right outsider who won the first round, in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

A man records video of Calin Georgescu, an independent candidate for president who won the first round of presidential elections, speaking to media outside a closed voting station after Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the first round of presidential elections, in Mogosoaia, Romania, Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

People wave Romanian and European Union flags during a pro-European rally ahead of the country's Dec. 8 runoff presidential elections in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

It's Kimi Antonelli's Formula 1 title “to lose”, or so his Mercedes teammate George Russell says. At the Monaco Grand Prix this week, for once they might both lose.

The 19-year-old Antonelli has won four races in a row for a vast 43-point lead and, between him and Russell, Mercedes has won every Grand Prix this year. Ferrari and hometown hero Charles Leclerc will aim to end that streak this week.

The Canadian Grand Prix spiced up the title race as Russell and Antonelli battled wheel-to-wheel for lap after lap, only for an engine failure on Russell's car to spoil the show.

“You’ve got such a buffer, it feels like you can only keep it, or you can lose it. And I think it’s his to lose," Russell said Thursday. “So, my mindset is to enjoy every single race, try and win every single race. I just need to continue being the guy who’s coming out on top, even if he’s the one at the moment who’s getting the results.”

Mercedes has had the car to beat all year but it might be Ferrari in front in Monaco. Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton's cars have a smaller turbocharger which might give them a quicker kick of power out of the many slow corners.

“If there’s one track I would bet on us, it’s probably Monaco,” said Leclerc, who's fresh off signing a new contract at Ferrari.

Monaco's tight and twisty streets create a race unlike any other. Three-time champion Nelson Piquet likened it to riding a bicycle around your living room.

This year, it feels almost like a different class of racing altogether.

For the first time, there's a de-facto speed limiter reducing electrical power when the car is going over 200 kmh (124 mph) on safety grounds, and the new-for-2026 moving aerodynamic parts for straight-line speed won't be used in Monaco. Essentially, the track is being treated like one big corner.

Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren have put miniature “winglets” on their cars for extra downforce instead of the components that would usually move the wings.

Monaco races tend to be processions, but qualifying is tense and often spectacular, all the more so because grid position is extra important when overtaking in Sunday's race is near-impossible.

With Cadillac on the grid for 2026, there will be two more cars on track for a total of 22. That could make qualifying more of a lottery, especially the extra-crowded first session.

Old-school glamor and modern glitz collided Thursday night as F1 used a swarm of 3,000 drones over Monaco's port to announce a 10-year contract extension for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Monaco pioneered the mix of casinos, celebrity and street racing that fuel Las Vegas' F1 project. Since its 2023 debut following F1's boom in the United States, Las Vegas has become a contender to surpass Monaco as the standout social event on the calendar.

F1 president Stefano Domenicali called Las Vegas the “premier destination for great racing, world-class entertainment, global business leaders, A-list celebrities and influencers” on Thursday. It was a description that until recently only applied to Monaco.

Las Vegas was the first race F1 promoted in-house, in effect a big bet on the U.S. market and one that so far seems to be paying off.

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Winner Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, center, of Italy, smiles after being sprayed by his team following the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Mercedes driver George Russell, of Britain, walks through the paddock at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix auto race in Montreal, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press via AP)