Romanian lawmakers set to vote on new center-right Cabinet as political crisis drags on

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Lawmakers in Romania are set to vote Wednesday on a new center-right Cabinet proposed by Prime Minister-designate Siegfried Muresan, who seeks to end a monthslong political crisis.

Muresan, 45, has proposed what he describes as a “reform-oriented” governing program under his center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, but is widely expected to fall short of the 233 votes needed to form a majority government in the European Union country.

Muresan, a European Parliament member, has secured support from about 170 lawmakers and held “extremely productive” discussions with minority groups and independent parliamentarians, he said in an interview with The Associated Press at the Palace of Parliament on Monday.

“My responsibility is to do everything in my power until the plenary vote to try to secure the necessary number of votes,” Muresan said. “I feel that right now we’re in the 200-vote range and that we’re getting close.”

Muresan’s core support comes from three parties: the PNL, the Save Romania Union party, or USR, and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party. The Social Democratic Party, or PSD, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, or AUR, have said they will not support his Cabinet.

The political crisis began in May when Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan was ousted in a no-confidence motion jointly filed by the Social Democratic Party, or PSD, which was part of the governing coalition, and the nationalist opposition Alliance for the Unity of Romanians party, or AUR.

Muresan, who became a European lawmaker in 2014, said his experience as an MEP in Brussels qualifies him for the premiership.

“The major challenges we face today, restoring the competitiveness of our economies, enhancing security in the face of multiple threats to people’s safety,” he said, listing the threats as energy security, cybersecurity and drones violating Romania’s airspace. “All of these issues have an international dimension.”

After ministerial hearings this week, Romanian President Nicusor Dan said “it’s time for this political crisis to end” and for political parties “to look beyond the party line” in favor of what he described as the national interest.

“Early elections are not a solution,” Dan said Tuesday. “On the contrary, they would be a continuation of instability and distrust, both among Romanian citizens and among financial markets.”

If the political crisis is not resolved soon, early elections may become the only alternative, Muresan said.

“I would rather have two months of an election campaign and early elections, to receive a new mandate from the people, rather than two years of uncertainty until the next parliamentary election,” he said.

When the previous coalition came to power in 2025, Bolojan was sworn in with the aim of ending one of Romania’s worst political crises in its post-Communist history and reducing a massive budget deficit.

Dan made two presidential nominations in June, but neither candidate managed to form a government. The president can dissolve Parliament if it rejects two Cabinet proposals within 60 days of the first rejection. The next election is scheduled for 2028.

Cristian Andrei, a Bucharest-based political consultant, said the chances of Muresan’s Cabinet passing are “close to zero” and warned the president’s next nomination risks shifting Romania’s pro-European orientation toward right-wing populism.

“A new nomination from the president is expected, a candidate accepted by the Social Democrats and a cabinet controlled by them,” he said. “There’s no clear conclusion for the current political deadlock, but a cooperation between the Social Democrats, the populists and extremists might swing Romania from a pro-European coalition to a populist one.”

Muresan has long accused the AUR, which came in second in a 2024 parliamentary election, of being anti-European. He slammed the PSD for collaborating with the hard-right party on the no-confidence motion that toppled the previous government.

“People will be able to see exactly if the Social Democratic Party will continue to partner with anti-European extremists or if it will vote for the pro-European government,” he said. “No other member state of the European Union, as a party that claims that it is a social democracy, cooperates with the extreme-right populist anti-European.”

PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said in a press briefing on Monday that the program presented by Muresan’s Cabinet is “in our view, an insult to economic logic,” arguing it would continue with Bolojan’s austerity measures.

AUR leader George Simion said his party will not participate in the vote.

McGrath reported from Leamington Spa, England.

Romanian Prime Minister designate Siegfried Muresan poses after an interview with the Associated Press at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Romanian Prime Minister designate Siegfried Muresan poses after an interview with the Associated Press at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Romanian Prime Minister designate Siegfried Muresan gestures after an interview with the Associated Press at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Romanian Prime Minister designate Siegfried Muresan speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

Romanian Prime Minister designate Siegfried Muresan poses after an interview with the Associated Press at the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest, Romania, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s spy agency said Wednesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy 's recent revelation of a supposedly secret transfer of two North Korean prisoners of war to the South was likely meant to generate public support in this Asian democracy for greater assistance to Ukraine.

Zelenskyy’s disclosure during his U.N. speech last week of the transfer of the captured soldiers has stunned South Korea and drawn strong protests. Seoul called on Kyiv to apologize and explain the violation of what it said was a nondisclosure agreement about the transfer. Ukraine denied agreeing to any such deal.

The fracas surrounding the revelation has shaken the traditionally good relations between Kyiv and Seoul but it's unclear if it would lead to something more dramatic.

The soldiers were among thousands sent by North Korea to help Russia repel a Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region as part of expanding cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow. North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia as well.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service held a closed-door meeting with a parliament committee on Wednesday about the matter.

According to lawmaker Yoo Yeong-ha who attended the meeting, the committee was told there has been no apology or expression of regret from Ukraine — either through official or unofficial channels.

The intelligence service assessed that Zelenskyy likely disclosed the transfer with the intention to rally public support in South Korea in favor of supplying weapons and other assistance to Ukraine, Yoo said.

Yoo did not elaborate or say how the intelligence service made its assessment.

South Korea has sent humanitarian aid and other support to Ukraine but has refrained from sending weapons, in line with its policy of not supplying arms to countries actively engaged in conflict.

According to the intelligence service, the North Korean POWs arrived in South Korea in mid-September and have no major health issues, according to another lawmaker, Yun Kun-young, who was also present at the meeting. The agency said that while in Ukraine, the soldiers had expressed their desires to resettle in South Korea, according to Yun.

North Korea hasn't publicly commented on the transfer but has previously claimed major defections of its citizens were the result of South Korea abducting them or luring them to flee.

South Korean officials have said they were concerned about the safety of the two soldiers and their relatives back in North Korea. Experts say there were also concerns the transfer could trigger protests from the North and undermine efforts to restart Pyongyang's talks with the United States.

Yun also said the intelligence service estimates that about 9,000 North Korean soldiers were engaged in surveillance operations in the Kursk region.

He also added that the lawmakers were told Russia has given North Korea weapons technologies to support its military modernization plans but has been reluctant to transfer cutting-edge technology related to the construction of nuclear-powered submarines and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The intelligence service has also assessed that the teenage daughter of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has cemented her status as her father's likely heir after attending an array of different public events and getting more ceremonial treatment, Yun said.

He quoted the service as saying Kim's daughter — reportedly named Kim Ju Ae and around 13 — made about 30 public appearances together with her father so far this year, the highest figure in the corresponding period since she first appeared in public in late 2022.

Some experts caution against seeing her as her father's successor, citing North Korea’s extremely strong male-centered power hierarchy.

Yoo, the lawmaker, said the service described Kim's daughter as trying to project a more mature image by wearing women’s suits and pointed-toe heels. The intelligence agency has in the past made assessments of Kim Jong Un's health conditions by using artificial intelligence techniques, analyses of super-resolution video and other methods.

Also in the Wednesday meeting, the intelligence agency said Kim is still severely obese but has no signs of other health problems, Yun said.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, center, attends the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the UN headquarters on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)