Romania's prime minister-designate teams up with 3 parties in a bid to form cabinet

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Muresan said Friday that he will try to form a government with three political parties, despite lacking a parliamentary majority, and aim to present a cabinet early next week.

Muresan, 44, a member of the European Parliament and Romania’s centre-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, told a press conference that he would “begin work immediately on a governing program” that he described as “pro-European and forward-looking.”

Romanian President Nicusor Dan nominated Muresan on Thursday after he received the most votes from political parties during consultations. Dan made two nominations in June after a no-confidence vote toppled Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in May.

“I am fully aware that Romania needs a serious and credible government, a government that continues reform measures, projects and programs initiated over the past year,” Muresan said at the Palace of Parliament in the capital, Bucharest.

“Starting today, I will work with colleagues from the three parties to draft the governing program,” he added.

Muresan said he would try to form a government with the PNL, Save Romania Union party, or USR, and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party. He will have 10 days to present a cabinet to Parliament.

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, says a Muresan cabinet has “zero chances” of passing unless members of Parliament want to avoid an early election.

In Romania, the president can dissolve Parliament if it rejects two cabinet proposals within 60 days of the first rejection, which can trigger an election.

USR leader Dominic Fritz told the press conference that a government led by Muresan “will strengthen people’s confidence” in Romania and that the trio of parties would try to form a “serious and coherent” government.

Muresan became a European lawmaker in 2014 and is vice chair of the European People’s Party group in the European Parliament.

When the previous coalition came to power in June 2025, its priority was to reduce the budget deficit, but Bolojan found himself frequently at loggerheads with the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, over austerity measures.

Bolojan was sworn in with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-Communist history but was ousted after a motion was submitted by the PSD, which was part of the coalition, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party. He has remained prime minister in an interim capacity since.

PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu opposed Muresan’s nomination and said he will meet with his party’s leadership to analyze the proposal.

McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.

Romanian Prime Minister designate and European Parliament member Siegfried Muresan looks on during a press conference in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Romanian President Nicusor Dan grimaces while announcing the nomination of European Parliament member Siegfried Muresan as Prime Minister designate in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Romanian Prime Minister designate and European Parliament member Siegfried Muresan leaves surrounded by media after a press conference along with outgoing Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Romanian Prime Minister designate and European Parliament member Siegfried Muresan looks on during a press conference in Bucharest, Romania, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Warren Buffett is stepping down as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway after serving in the role at the $1 trillion conglomerate for more than 50 years.

Buffett, 96, will become chairman emeritus and will take on his new role immediately, the company said Friday. His son, Howard, will become Berkshire Hathaway’s new chairman, part of a long-planned succession. Howard Buffett has been on the Berkshire Hathaway board since 1993.

Warren Buffett, known by a legion of financial market followers as the Oracle of Omaha, will remain a director. He has been Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman since 1970.

Greg Abel took over for Buffett as the CEO of the $1 trillion conglomerate at the start of this year, even though Buffett remains one of the most influential investors in the world.

“I have served Berkshire since 1965," Buffett said in a letter to shareholders. “Sixty-plus years in, I still have the best job in the world. That is not something many people my age can say, and I have never felt better about what comes next.”

Buffett said that he is confident with Abel and his son Howard leading Berkshire Hathaway.

“Greg runs the company; Howard will guard its culture and values – both worth more than anything on our balance sheet,” he said. “Think of Howard as a policy the shareholders own and hope never to claim against.”

Michael Withers, professor of management at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business, said Buffett took a deliberate approach to Berkshire Hathaway's succession plans and has carried out the transition step by step.

“Buffett seems to have understood that succeeding him wasn’t just about finding another extraordinary leader,” he said. "It was about building a structure that could preserve what makes Berkshire different long after he has stepped away. The test moving forward will be whether Abel and Howard can honor that legacy while still giving Berkshire room to adapt to a market that looks very different from the one Buffett mastered.”

Buffett's fortune has been amassed through Berkshire Hathaway stock. The company, which was a New England textile firm that was built into an investing conglomerate and an icon of Wall Street. In 2024, Berkshire Hathaway became one of the first non-tech companies valued at more than $1 trillion.

Buffett, a longtime philanthropist, has given away roughly $66 billion worth of stock since 2006.

Buffett's take on finance has created its own gravitational pull. When Berkshire Hathaway reveals the stocks that the company has acquired or sold in public disclosures, it can shake markets.

During his time as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the company nearly doubled the returns of the S&P 500, with a 19.9% compounded annual growth rate compared with the index’s 10.4% gain.

“Warren’s impact on Berkshire and its owners is without parallel in the history of American business," Abel said in a prepared statement. “The culture Warren built and the values he championed will remain at the heart of Berkshire, and Howard will be their guardian.”

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway pointed lower before the opening bell Friday.

FILE - Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting May 5, 2019, in Omaha, Neb. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)