BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s leftist Social Democratic Party and the hard-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians jointly submitted a no-confidence motion on Tuesday as the two political parties seek to topple liberal Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
The PSD, Romania’s largest political party that was until last week part of the coalition government, and the opposition AUR party, submitted the motion to Parliament, a day after the two parties announced the joint effort to bring down Bolojan, who is from the center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, less than a year after his pro-European coalition was sworn in.
The PSD said in a statement that it had secured enough support for the motion against Bolojan. AUR leader George Simion told a news conference Tuesday that the motion had 251 signatures and vowed that it will pass “without any problems.”
The no-confidence motion will likely be voted in parliament next week.
The development follows PSD’s withdrawal last week from the coalition, which left Bolojan without a parliamentary majority and plunged the European Union country into a fresh political crisis.
Romania has faced a long period of instability after a presidential election was annulled in December 2024, and it is currently grappling with one of the highest budget deficits in the EU, rampant inflation and a technical recession.
Sorin Grindeanu, the president of PSD, said Monday that “there are many things that divide us … but there is a common goal, that of voting for this motion and toppling the Bolojan government.”
“I want to be very clear, it is a parliamentary initiative, it is an initiative that currently has support beyond political color,” Grindeanu said, adding that the motion was supported by the far-right nationalist S.O.S. Romania party, and other right-wing groups.
When the governing coalition was voted in last June, it pledged to make reducing the budget deficit a top priority. The PSD has often found itself at loggerheads with Bolojan over some of the austerity measures, which have included tax hikes, public sector wage and pension freezes and cutting public spending and public administration jobs.
In a statement Tuesday, PSD claimed Bolojan has “failed to implement any genuine reform” in his 10 months leading the government, and said Romania needs a leader who is “capable of collaboration.”
“In the complicated geopolitical context we find ourselves in, Romania urgently needs coherent leadership, without blockages and without political arrogance, which can ensure good administration and economic recovery,” the statement read.
If Bolojan is toppled, the PSD would be needed to form a pro-European parliamentary majority. The party has previously ruled out entering a government with AUR.
Siegfried Muresan, a Romanian member of the European Parliament from Bolojan's PNL party, says the prime minister has been implementing fiscal reforms as per the coalition agreement.
Bolojan is “serious about consolidating the budget, reforming the country, and respecting the commitments,” Muresan told the Associated Press. “The Socialist Party has now decided all of a sudden not to continue supporting this prime minister, to oppose the reforms and the measures which they all agree to in the coalition.”
Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political analyst, says Romania will likely face “a long crisis” after the vote, which “breaks the pro-European coalition and offers the populist party, AUR, a place at the mainstream table.”
“For PSD it’s a power play and a way to get back in touch with and to signal to its former voter base that has migrated toward populist parties,” he said. “PSD wants to be great again, to regain the status of the party in charge. AUR gains a respectability aura and it shows a strong position in the Parliament, at the same time with PSD moving towards populism at speed.”
The prime ministerial position was set to be rotated in 2027 from Bolojan to a PSD premier as part of a power-sharing agreement. A general election is scheduled for 2028.
McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.
FILE - Romanian Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan attends a joint press conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, file)
WASHINGTON (AP) — King Charles III will embrace some of Washington’s most formal ceremonial trappings as he tries to emphasize a bond between the United Kingdom and the United States that is so strong it can withstand the political turmoil of the moment.
The visit comes at a challenging moment for U.S.-UK relations. U.S. President Donald Trump’s up-and-down relationship with Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a particularly sour turn over the past several months as the president has sought to rally international support for the war in Iran.
The king, accompanied by Queen Camilla, will begin his day with a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump around 10:35 a.m. ET. The King is then scheduled to address the U.S. Congress at 3 p.m. ET, the body’s first address from a British monarch since Queen Elizabeth II ’s in 1991. The day will end with an expectedly buzzy dinner at the White House.
Here's the latest:
Is the U.S. president actually a distant royal?
The U.K.-based Daily Mail reported this week that Trump and King Charles III have a shared distant ancestor that would make the two 15th cousins.
According to research conducted for the tabloid, Trump and Charles are both related to the 3rd Earl of Lennox, who is a great-grandson of King James II of Scotland.
“Wow, that’s nice. I’ve always wanted to live in Buckingham Palace!!!” Trump posted on his social media site Tuesday morning shortly before he was to formally greet the king and Queen Camilla at the White House. “I’ll talk to the King and Queen about this in a few minutes!!!”
Charles has faced some calls on Capitol Hill to meet with victims of Jeffrey Epstein while he is in the U.S. There’s no indication that he will do so, even as the scandal involving the convicted sex offender has ensnared his brother, the former Prince Andrew, who was arrested in February over misconduct allegations, which he denies.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., urged the king over the weekend to at least address the issue during his congressional speech.
The president has spoken in glowing terms about Charles, repeatedly referring to the monarch as his “friend” and a “great guy.”
He also continues to mention his “amazing” trip to the U.K. in September with Melania Trump for an unprecedented second state visit. Starmer hand-delivered the invitation from the king in the Oval Office five weeks after Trump returned to office, in a very public attempt to woo the Republican president.
The U.K. royal family laid on pomp and pageantry for the Trumps, with scarlet-clad guardsmen, brass bands and a sumptuous banquet at Windsor Castle.
“President Trump has always had great respect for King Charles, and their relationship was further strengthened by the president’s historic visit to the United Kingdom last year,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told The Associated Press.
Trump’s up-and-down relationship with Prime Minister Keir Starmer has taken a particularly sour turn over the past several months as the president has sought to rally international support for the war in Iran. Trump lamented that Starmer, who has largely resisted his overtures, was “no Churchill.”
Trump has also imposed tariffs on the U.K. and warned of additional levies despite a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that has made such unilateral moves more challenging. Still, Trump threatened just last week to slap a “big tariff” on the U.K. if it doesn’t scrap a digital services tax on U.S. technology companies.
Trump has more broadly challenged the traditional trans-Atlantic alliance with efforts to annex Greenland and threats to walk away from NATO. He has repeatedly imposed tariffs on and taunted Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth.
King Charles III will become the first British monarch to address the U.S. Congress since his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1991. Her speech highlighted the shared history of both countries and the importance of their democratic values, themes Charles will likely reinforce on Tuesday.
Such addresses are an opportunity afforded to only the most prominent world leaders, including Pope Francis, Václav Havel and Winston Churchill. It will likely mark the most extensive public remarks Charles will deliver during a four-day visit to the U.S. that’s intended to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary of independence from Britain.
The king, accompanied by Queen Camilla, will begin his day with a meeting at the White House with Trump. The Oval Office encounter offers the potential for the freewheeling, sometimes controversial meetings with foreign leaders that have become routine during Trump’s second term.
Given the expressly apolitical nature of the British monarch and Trump’s fondness for the royal family, the likelihood of an awkward meeting may be reduced.
Trump will host Charles on Tuesday evening for a state banquet at the White House.
Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla pose for a photo outside of the British Embassy, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump along with Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla walk on the South Lawn to visit the White House garden and bee hive at the White House, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet Britain's King Charles III and Queen Camilla as they arrive at the White House, Monday, April 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
