Politics of Romania Politica României
Coat of arms of Romania
Polity type	Unitarysemi-presidentialrepublic
Constitution	Constitution of Romania (1991)
Legislative branch
Name	Parliament
Type	Bicameral
Meeting place	Palace of the Parliament
Upper house
Name	Senate
Presiding officer	Mircea Abrudean,President of the Senate
Lower house
Name	Chamber of Deputies
Presiding officer	Ciprian-Constantin Șerban,President of the Chamber of Deputies
Executive branch
Head of state
Title	President
Currently	Nicușor Dan
Appointer	Direct popular vote,two-round system
Head of government
Title	Prime Minister
Currently	Ilie Bolojan
Appointer	President
Cabinet
Name	Government of Romania
Current cabinet	Bolojan cabinet
Leader	Prime Minister
Deputy leader	Deputy Prime Minister
Appointer	President
Headquarters	Victoria Palace
Ministries	18
Judicial branch
Name	Judiciary of Romania
High Court of Cassation and Justice
Chief judge	Corina Corbu
Constitutional Court

Romania's political framework is asemi-presidential representativerepublic where thePrime Minister is thehead of government, while thePresident, according to the Constitution, holds a more symbolic role, being responsible for theforeign policy, signing certain decrees, approving laws promulgated by the parliament, and nominating thehead of government (i.e.Prime Minister). Romania has amulti-party system, withlegislative power vested in the government and thetwo chambers of theParliament, more specifically theChamber of Deputies and theSenate. Thejudiciary isindependent of the executive and the legislature in theory. From 1948 until 1989, thecommunist rule political structure took place in the framework of a one-party socialist republic governed by theRomanian Communist Party (PCR) as its only legal party.

Romania's1991 constitution (amended in 2003) proclaims it a democratic and social republic, deriving itssovereignty from the people. According to the constitution, "Human dignity, civic rights and freedoms, the unhindered development of human personality, justice, and political pluralism are supreme and guaranteed values."

The constitution provides for a President, a Parliament, aConstitutional Court, and a separate court system which includes theHigh Court of Cassation and Justice. The right to vote is granted to all citizens over 18 years of age.

TheV-Dem Democracy Report 2025 classified Romania as anelectoral democracy, while noting autocratization tendencies, citingRussian meddling in the election process leading to the annulment of the first round of the2024 presidential election and a decrease in opposition parties’ autonomy.^[1]

Romania was fully admitted to theSchengen area on 1 January 2025.^[2]

The president is elected by popular vote for a maximum of two five-year terms (four-year terms until 2004). The president is head of state (charged with safeguarding the constitution, foreign affairs, and the proper functioning of public authority), supreme commander of thearmed forces, and chairperson of theSupreme Council of National Defense. According to the constitution, the president acts as a mediator among the state's power centers and between the state and society. The president nominates theprime minister after consultation with the party holding an absolute majority inParliament or, if there is no such majority, with all the parties in Parliament.

Ambiguity in theConstitution of Romania (Article 85 (1), Article 103 (1))^[3] may lead to situations where a coalition of parties obtaining an absolute majority in Parliament, or a party holding arelative majority in Parliament, would be unable to nominate a prime minister because the president would refuse the nomination (with no party holding an absolute majority in Parliament). According to Article 103 (1), "unless no such majority exists", is interpreted by the president as "unless no such party exists" (although an absolute majority may be formed by one party, a coalition of parties, or an alliance).

In the 2008 parliamentary elections,^[4] theAlliance PSD+PC won 33.1% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 34.2% of the seats in the Senate. ThePNL won 18.6% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 18.7% of the seats in the Senate, giving both parties a majority in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. However, the president nominated a member of thePDL (which won less than 32.4% of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 33.5% of the seats in the Senate. The nominated prime minister chooses the other members of the government, and the government and its program must be confirmed by a vote of confidence from Parliament.

The national legislature is abicameralparliament (Romanian:Parlament), consisting of theChamber of Deputies (Romanian:Camera Deputaților) and theSenate (Romanian:Senat). Members are elected to four-year terms by universal suffrage in a party-listproportional representationelectoral system. Beginning in2008, members are elected bymixed-member proportional representation.

The number of senators and deputies has varied in each legislature, reflecting population changes. In 2008, there were 137 senatorial seats and 334 seats in the Chamber of Deputies; of the 334 deputy seats, 18 were held by ethnic minority representatives which would not meet the five-percentelectoral threshold required for other parties and organizations.

Romania has a multiparty political system, which makes a majority government virtually impossible (unless a very high score is achieved in the legislative election by one particular political party). Smaller parliamentary parties have sometimes merged with larger ones during previous legislatures before 2020 (or created/were part of several electoral alliances). Currently, there are five main parliamentary parties (excluding the 18ethnic-minority parties which have one representative each) as follows:

Logo	Party name		Ideology	Leader(s)	Notes
		Social Democratic Party (Romanian:Partidul Social Democrat)	Social democratic,centre-leftpopulist, de factocatch all	Sorin Grindeanu	Currently the largest party in parliament. He currently leads a government formed with PNL and UDMR (government composition that was between 2021 and 2023). He achieved his worst results in recent elections.
		Alliance for the Union of Romanians (Romanian:Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor)	Romanian nationalism,Romanian irredentism,Euroscepticism,right-wing populism,national conservatism	George Simion	Currently the second largest opposition party in parliament. In the legislative elections, AUR won 20% of the vote in all of Romania and the diaspora, which resulted in aresult that made the party the second largest in the country at the central political level.
		National Liberal Party (Romanian:Partidul Național Liberal)	Conservative liberal,centre-rightpopulist, de factocatch all	Ilie Bolojan	Until November 2021, the largest ruling party through a coalition government previously established in December 2020, but subsequently formed a minority government solely with the UDMR/RMDSZ after early September 2021 until late November of the same year (even after it was dismissed by a recorded-votedno confidence motion). It is currently part of agrand coalition government known as theNational Coalition for Romania (CNR for short) along with PSD, being the second largest party within it. Additionally, it has also been crushed by internal disputes, growingcorruption scandals, and departures of various MPs and local politicians, some of which had already founded several splinter parties (e.g. most notablyLudovic Orban'sForce of the Right or FD for short).
		Save Romania Union (Romanian:Uniunea Salvați România)	Liberalism,Progressivism,Social liberalism,Economic liberalism,Pro-Europeanism	Dominic Fritz	Currently, the third largest parliamentary party (previously established as a formal political andelectoral alliance between theUSR andPLUS known as the2020 USR PLUS Alliance and then simply as USR-PLUS/USR PLUS) and in opposition towards the PSD-PNL-UDMR/RMDSZ grand coalition government (as well as to the current PSD-PNL government).Syncretic political position (mostly with considerable focus towardsanti-corruption and therule of law). Recently has clarified its political position (center-right) with strong emphasis oneconomic liberalism,anti-corruption policies. Also recently, the party has taken slightlypopulist positions.
		S.O.S. Romania (Romanian:S.O.S. România)	Romanianultranationalism,Romanian irredentism,hard euroscepticism,social conservatism	Diana Șoșoacă	Founded in 2021 and becoming popular after the entry ofDiana Șoșoacă, the party managed to send 2 MEPs after the2024 European Parliament election. In theparliamentary election it obtained a significant representation, becoming the fifth largest party in the parliament, and the second nationalist party after AUR. The party's rhetoric is ultra-nationalist, nationalist-revolutionary, and hardly Eurosceptic.
		Party of Young People (Romanian:Partidul Oamenilor Tineri)	Right-wing populism,Romanian nationalism,christian right	Anamaria Gavrilă	Founded in 2023 by Anamaria Gavrilă, former AUR deputy, the party promotes traditionalist and national-christian ideologies,opposing abortion andcompulsory vaccination. POT supported the candidacy ofCălin Georgescu in thepresidential election of 2024 and obtained parliamentary representation following the elections of December 1, 2024. The party is currently in opposition.
		Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (Romanian:Uniunea Democrată Maghiară din România)	Centre-right,Hungarian minority interests, Hungarian ethnic minority party	Hunor Kelemen	Previously, the smallest ruling party in the centre-right coalition formed in December 2020 (which was later disbanded in September 2021). It was also part of the CNR ruling grand coalition along with PNL and PSD, being still the smallest party (or junior partner) in the aforementioned government. Since June 2023, it switched to opposition after not voting theCiolacu Cabinet.

The main four non-parliamentary parties (the first two around the five-percent threshold) with local representatives are as follows:

Logo	Party name		Romanian name	Ideology	Leader
		Health Education Nature Sustainability Party	Partidul Sănătate, Educație, Natură, Sustenabilitate (SENS)	Centre-left Green politics Progressivism	Andrei Macsut
		Force of the Right	Forța Dreptei (FD)	Centre-right Liberal conservatism	Ludovic Orban
		People's Movement Party	Partidul Mișcarea Populară (PMP)	Centre-right Christian democracy	Eugen Tomac
		United Social Democratic Party	Partidul Social Democrat Unit (PSDU)	Centre-left Social democracy Christian left	Oana Crețu

Unlike other former Soviet-bloc countries (such as, most notably, neighbouringRepublic of Moldova), no political party claiming to be the successor of theRomanian Communist Party (PCR) has been or is currently a significant player on the political scene, although the main continuator of FSN, more specifically PSD, has many times raised suspicions and accusations from electoral contenders regarding the past political careers of many of its current and former members who were first tier, high-ranking members of the PCR before the 1989 Romanian Revolution. The PNL also has many former Securitate members, former PCR members, or their relatives, in part through the merger with the PDL in 2014 but not only.

The lastpresidential election took place on May 4 and May 18, 2025, respectively. Following the events that occurred during the first round of voting and the finding of foreign interference in theNovember 2024 presidential elections, theConstitutional Court annulled the elections, so they were repeated in May 2025.

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	PSD–PNL Alliance	4,341,686	48.55	19	–
	AUR Alliance	1,334,905	14.93	6	New
	United Right Alliance	778,901	8.71	3	–
	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania	579,180	6.48	2	–
	S.O.S. Romania	450,040	5.03	2	New
	Renewing Romania's European Project	334,703	3.74	0	New
	United Diaspora Party	159,943	1.79	0	New
	Social Liberal Humanist Party	132,402	1.48	0	New
	Patriots Party	65,440	0.73	0	New
	Greater Romania Party	59,272	0.66	0	–
	The Right Alternative	40,281	0.45	0	New
	Socialist Romania Alliance (PSR–PSDM)	37,119	0.42	0	–
	Independents	628,754	7.03	1	–
Total		8,942,626	100.00	33	+1
Valid votes		8,942,626	94.82
Invalid/blank votes		488,551	5.18
Total votes		9,431,177	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		18,025,329	52.32
Source:BEC

Thelatest legislative election was held on 1 December 2024. The two tables below are represented the results for both the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies:

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	2,030,144	21.96	86	–24
	Alliance for the Union of Romanians	1,665,143	18.01	63	+30
	National Liberal Party	1,219,810	13.20	49	–44
	Save Romania Union	1,146,357	12.40	40	–15
	S.O.S. Romania	679,967	7.36	28	New
	Party of Young People	596,745	6.46	24	New
	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania	585,397	6.33	22	+1
	Health Education Nature Sustainability Party	276,494	2.99	0	New
	Force of the Right[e]	189,678	2.05	0	New
	United Social Democratic Party	177,137	1.92	0	New
	Renewing Romania's European Project[f]	114,223	1.24	0	New
	Justice and Respect in Europe for All Party	107,474	1.16	0	New
	Romanian National Conservative Party	45,687	0.49	0	New
	Patriots of the Romanian People	40,960	0.44	0	0
	Romanian Ecologist Party	34,641	0.37	0	0
	Independent Social Democratic Party	33,372	0.36	0	0
	Romania in Action Party	28,504	0.31	0	New
	National Christian Alliance	25,789	0.28	0	0
	New Romania Party	14,107	0.15	0	0
	Party of the Roma "Pro Europa"	13,881	0.15	1	0
	Association of Macedonians of Romania	13,800	0.15	1	0
	Socialist Romania Alliance	12,849	0.14	0	0
	League of Albanians of Romania	9,177	0.10	1	0
	Union of the Ukrainians of Romania	8,750	0.09	1	0
	Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania	8,577	0.09	1	0
	Union of Serbs of Romania	7,962	0.09	1	0
	Alternative for National Dignity	7,747	0.08	0	0
	Hellenic Union of Romania	7,565	0.08	1	0
	Community of the Lipovan Russians in Romania	7,434	0.08	1	0
	Democratic Union of Slovaks and Czechs of Romania	7,420	0.08	1	0
	Federation of the Jewish Communities in Romania	5,281	0.06	1	0
	Bulgarian Union of Banat–Romania	5,089	0.06	1	0
	Democratic Union of Turkic-Muslim Tatars of Romania	4,908	0.05	1	0
	Union of Armenians of Romania	4,747	0.05	1	0
	Cultural Union of Ruthenians of Romania	4,571	0.05	1	0
	Democratic Turkish Union of Romania	4,547	0.05	1	0
	Union of Croats of Romania	4,413	0.05	1	0
	Union of Poles of Romania "Dom Polski"	4,215	0.05	1	0
	Association of Italians of Romania	4,128	0.04	1	0
	National Action League Party	2,912	0.03	0	New
	Forum of Czechs in Romania	2,817	0.03	1	+1
	Party of Faithful People	1,143	0.01	0	0
	Geto-Dacian Union Party	435	0.00	0	0
	Patria Party	391	0.00	0	0
	Republican Party of Romania	279	0.00	0	0
	Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party	270	0.00	0	0
	Green Party	248	0.00	0	0
	United Pensioners' Party	229	0.00	0	0
	Party of Justice	184	0.00	0	0
	Independents	76,043	0.82	0	0
Total		9,243,641	100.00	331	+1
Valid votes		9,243,641	98.17
Invalid/blank votes		171,877	1.83
Total votes		9,415,518	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		19,503,273	48.28
Source:Permanent Electoral Authority Seat counts

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Social Democratic Party	2,065,087	22.30	36	–11
	Alliance for the Union of Romanians	1,694,705	18.30	28	+14
	National Liberal Party	1,322,468	14.28	22	–19
	Save Romania Union	1,134,831	12.26	19	–6
	S.O.S. Romania	718,409	7.76	12	New
	Party of Young People	591,927	6.39	7	New
	Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania	590,783	6.38	10	+1
	Health Education Nature Sustainability Party	263,173	2.84	0	New
	Force of the Right[g]	173,703	1.88	0	New
	United Social Democratic Party	164,659	1.78	0	New
	Renewing Romania's European Project[h]	126,408	1.37	0	New
	Justice and Respect in Europe for All Party	114,500	1.24	0	New
	Romanian National Conservative Party	50,287	0.54	0	New
	Patriots of the Romanian People	48,436	0.52	0	0
	Independent Social Democratic Party	41,712	0.45	0	0
	Romanian Ecologist Party	38,561	0.42	0	0
	National Christian Alliance	31,094	0.34	0	0
	Romania in Action Party	30,252	0.33	0	New
	New Romania Party	17,203	0.19	0	0
	Socialist Romania Alliance	16,256	0.18	0	0
	Alternative for National Dignity	10,473	0.11	0	0
	National Action League Party	3,838	0.04	0	New
	Party of Faithful People	806	0.01	0	0
	Patria Party	493	0.01	0	0
	Geto-Dacian Union Party	480	0.01	0	0
	Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party	371	0.00	0	0
	Party of Justice	325	0.00	0	0
	Republican Party of Romania	314	0.00	0	0
	Green Party	290	0.00	0	0
	Phralipe Party of the Roma	287	0.00	0	0
	Independents	7,826	0.08	0	0
Total		9,259,957	100.00	134	0
Valid votes		9,259,957	98.41
Invalid/blank votes		149,557	1.59
Total votes		9,409,514	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		19,503,273	48.25
Source:Permanent Electoral Authority Seat counts

The latest general local election was held on 27 September 2020.

The Romanian legal system, based on theNapoleonic Code, isinquisitorial. The judiciary is independent, and judges appointed by the president are not removable. The president and other judges of the Supreme Court are appointed for six-year terms and may serve consecutive terms. Proceedings are public, except in special circumstances provided for by law.

Judicial power is vested in a hierarchical system of courts, culminating with the supreme court: Înalta Curte de Justiție și Casație (High Court of Cassation and Justice), whose judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Superior Council of Magistrates.

The Ministry of Justice represents the general interests of society and defends therule of law and citizens' rights and freedoms. The ministry exercises its power through independent, impartial public prosecutors.

The (Constitutional Court) judges issues of constitutionality invoked in any court and judges the compliance of laws (or other state regulations) with theRomanian Constitution. The court, outside the judicial branch, follows the tradition of theFrench Constitutional Council with nine judges serving nine-year, non-renewable terms. Since the 2003 revision of the constitution, its decisions cannot be overturned by a parliamentary majority.

For territorial and administrative purposes, Romania is divided into 41counties (județe, singularjudeț) and the city ofBucharest. Each county is governed by an elected council. Local councils and elected mayors are the public authorities in villages and towns. The county council coordinates the activities of village and town councils.

The central government appoints aprefect for each county and Bucharest, who represents the government at the local level and directs the ministries and other central agencies at the county level. A prefect may block the action of a local authority if he deems it unlawful or unconstitutional, with the matter then adjudicated by an administrative court.

Under legislation enacted in January 1999, local councils control the spending of their allocations from the central government budget and have the authority to raise additional revenue locally. Although centrally-appointed prefects formerly had significant authority over the budget, this is now limited to a review of expenditures to determine their constitutionality.

Romania has made considerable progress in institutionalizingdemocratic principles,civil liberties, and respect forhuman rights since theRomanian Revolution inDecember 1989. Nevertheless, many present-day Romanian politicians are former members of theRomanian Communist Party (PCR) and have also had ties with the Romanian secret police (i.e.Securitatea). Since membership in the party was a requirement for advancement before 1989, many people joined to get ahead rather than because of ideological conviction; however, the communist past of some Romanian politicians remains highly controversial to the current day.

The Romanian Communist Party (PCR) officially ceased to exist after the December 1989 Romanian Revolution. Anad interim/acting government swiftly took office starting in late December 1989 which consisted ofNational Salvation Front (FSN) members and would eventually govern Romania well up until 1992. The FSN had initially not decided to run in the 1990 elections but subsequently retracted their initial position and opted to participate in the1990 Romanian general election, having the full support of state-owned media and an overwhelming majority of the voters during the electoral campaign, thereby eventually securing a landslide win.

Prior to the 1990 Romanian general election, over 200 new political parties sprang up just after 1989, most of them gravitating towards their leaders rather than revolving around political programs or full-fledgedgeopolitical agendas. Nevertheless, all major political parties espoused democracy and free market reforms to varying degrees or extents. The largest political party by far, the governingNational Salvation Front (FSN), proposed slow, cautious economic reforms, and an artificial, weaksocial safety net (mostly for the working class of the still operating factories of theheavy industries).

In stark contrast, the main opposition parties, more specifically theNational Liberal Party (PNL) and theChristian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNŢCD), favored rapid, sweeping economic reforms, immediateprivatization (which would have caused ashock therapy) as well as a drastic reduction and even total exclusion of former Communist Party (PCR) members from public Romanian political life. Apart from PCR members, the early demands of the Romanian historical democratic parties were also the reduction of the undercover members of the formerSecuritate (which could have been PCR members as well) from all areas of public life (thereby endorsing theProclamation of Timișoara and the lustration law against the former Romanian secret police).

In the1990 presidential and legislative elections, the FSN and its presidential candidate,Ion Iliescu, won with a large majority of the votes (67% and 85.1%, respectively). The strongest opposition parties in theSenate were theHungarian minority-orientedDemocratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ) (with 7.2%) and theNational Liberal Party (PNL) (with 7.1%), followed by theChristian Democratic National Peasants' Party (PNȚCD) with only 2.5% and theRomanian Ecologist Party (with only 1.4%) as well other minor centre-right parties (e.g.Liberal Union–Brătianu,National Reconstruction Party of Romania, and theDemocratic Group of the Centre) with less than one per cent.

After FSN Prime MinisterPetre Roman's dismissal a few months before the 1992 general elections (following a late 1991Mineriad), the FSN split in two. President Iliescu's supporters formed a new political party, namely theDemocratic National Salvation Front (FDSN) which will later turn into PDSR and then PSD, while Roman's supporters retained the FSN name (which will later turn into PD and then PDL respectively).

The 1992 local,legislative, andpresidential elections indicated a major political rift between theurban centres and the countryside. Rural voters, grateful for the restoration of most agricultural land to farmers but fearful of change, strongly favored Iliescu and the FDSN; the urban electorate favored theCDR (a coalition of several parties – the strongest of which were the PNŢCD and the PNL – and several other civic organizations as well) and quicker reform. Iliescu easily won re-election from a field of five other candidates, and the FDSN won a plurality/relative majority of seats in both chambers of the Romanian Parliament.

With the CDR, the second-largest parliamentary group, reluctant to participate in a national-unity coalition, the FDSN (now thePDSR) formed a government under prime minister and economistNicolae Văcăroiu with parliamentary support on behalf of the nationalistsRomanian National Unity Party (PUNR) andGreater Romania Party (PRM) as well as the extreme left-wingSocialist Party of Labour (PSM) led by former PCR Prime MinisterIlie Verdeț. The future coalition would be labeled by the press as the "Red Quadrilateral" (originally known in Romanian asPatrulaterul Roșu).^[7]

In January 1994, the governing coalition's stability became problematic when the PUNR threatened to withdraw its support unless it received cabinet portfolios. After intense negotiations, two PUNR members received cabinet portfolios in the Văcăroiu government in August of the same year. The following month, the incumbent Justice Minister also joined the PUNR. Nevertheless, subsequently, the PRM and the PSM left the coalition in October and December 1995, respectively.

The1996 local elections indicated a major shift in the political orientation of the Romanian electorate, with opposition parties sweeping Bucharest and most of the larger cities inTransylvania,Banat,Bukovina, andDobruja. The trend continued in that year'slegislative andpresidential elections when the opposition dominated the cities and made strong inroads into rural areas previously dominated by President Iliescu and the PDSR (which lost many voters in their traditional stronghold constituencies outside Transylvania).

The opposition campaign emphasized the need to squelch corruption and introduce economic reform favoring liberalization and the free market. This message resonated with voters, resulting in a historical victory for the CDR coalition and the election ofEmil Constantinescu as president (partly due toCorneliu Coposu's death as well). To secure its electoral majority, the CDR invited Petre Roman'sDemocratic Party (the former FSN) and the UDMR/RMDSZ (representing the Hungarian minority) to join the government. Although over the next four years, Romania had three prime ministers (and despite internal frictions), the governing parties preserved their coalition and initiated a series of much-needed reforms.

Constantinescu stated in 2000 that he is no longer running for a second term, claiming that the system had defeated him. The CDR-led coalition with its new candidateMugur Isărescu lost the first round of presidential elections held in November 2000 as a result of popular dissatisfaction with infighting among the constituent parties during the preceding four years and the economic hardship brought about by structural reforms. In the second round, Ion Iliescu, running again as theSocial Democratic Party (PSD) candidate, won by a wide margin over extreme nationalistGreater Romania Party (PRM) candidateCorneliu Vadim Tudor. Iliescu subsequently appointedAdrian Năstase Prime Minister. In the Parliament, the PSD government (like its predecessor) relied on the support of theUDMR/RMDSZ, which did not join the cabinet but negotiated annual packages of legislation and other measures favoring Romania's ethnic Hungarians (essentially through aconfidence and supply agreement).

Năstase, in his four years as prime minister, continued the previous government's pro-Western foreign policy. The period was characterized by political stability unprecedented in post-communist Romania and consistent economic growth. Romania joinedNATO in the spring of 2004 and signed an accession treaty to join the EU in 2007. However, the PSD government was plagued by allegations of corruption which would be significant factors in its eventual defeat in local andnational elections in 2004.

In September 2003, theDemocratic Party (PD) and theNational Liberal Party (PNL) formed an electoral alliance, more specifically theJustice and Truth (DA) Alliance, as a mainstream opposition bloc to the ruling PSD. The DA Alliance agreed, among other measures, to vote as a bloc in the parliament and local councils and run common candidates in national and local elections. In October 2003, the country held a referendum on several constitutional amendments deemed necessary for EU accession. The amendments included provisions to allow foreigners to own land in Romania and to change the president's term from four to five years.

In 2004,Traian Băsescu, the then-leader of theDemocratic Party (PD), won thepresidential election by a narrow margin. Băsescu subsequently appointed former national liberal leaderCălin Popescu-Tăriceanu as prime minister. Popescu-Tăriceanu headed a government composed of thePNL,PD,UDMR/RMDSZ, andPC (formerly known as the Romanian Humanist Party or PUR).^[8] In order to secure a parliamentary majority, the coalition government relied on the support of 18 parliamentary seats reserved for ethnic-minority representatives.

The government's narrow majority in the Parliament led to calls for early elections. In July 2005, Prime Minister Popescu-Tăriceanu voiced plans to resign, prompting new elections; he then backtracked, noting his and the cabinet's need to focus on relief efforts for summer floods. During its first year, the government was also tested by a successfully resolved hostage crisis involving three Romanian journalists kidnapped inIraq andavian influenza in several parts of the country, transmitted by wild birds migrating from Asia.

The government's overriding objective was theaccession of Romania to the European Union (EU), and on 1 January 2007 Romania became the 26th member of the EU. The government also maintained good relations with the United States, signing an agreement in December 2005 which would allow American troops to train and serve at severalRomanian military facilities. Băsescu and Popescu-Tăriceanu pledged to combat high-level corruption and implement broader reforms to modernize sectors such as the judicial system and healthcare.

On 19 April 2007, the Romanian Parliament suspended President Băsescu on charges of unconstitutional conduct. The suspension, passed by a 322–108 vote, opened the way for anational referendum on impeachment^[9] which failed by a large popular vote, and as such Băsescu was reinstated as President.

The November 2008 parliamentary elections were close, with theSocial Democrats (PSD) winning 33.9% of the vote, President Traian Băsescu's centre-rightLiberal Democrats (PDL) taking 32.3%, and the rulingNational Liberals (PNL) receiving 18.6%.^[10] The Liberal Democrats and Social Democrats formed a coalition after the election. Former prime minister Theodor Stolojan withdrew his candidacy for the premiership and President Băsescu nominatedEmil Boc, president of the Liberal Democrats, as prime minister.

With the onset of theGreat Recession, the Romanian political scene saw tensions between the president and the prime minister on the one hand as well as between the general population on the other hand. Tensions escalated with a2012 political crisis and another attempt to impeach President Băsescu. In thereferendum, more than 7.4 million people (nearly 90%) supported Băsescu's removal from office. However, the Constitutional Court invalidated the referendum because the majority of the population did not vote (the voter turnout was 46%); Băsescu had called the referendum acoup d'état and asked the public to boycott it. All these events have been heavily criticized by international political figures, most notably by German chancellorAngela Merkel.^[11][12]

Thelegislative elections of 9 December 2012 were seen by the public as an opportunity for change and to oust Băsescu. TheSocial Liberal Union (USL) received a large majority in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate (60.07 and 58.61 percent of the vote, respectively) and a record 395 seats. The new prime minister,Victor Ponta, quickly formed a government but the failure to adopt reforms quickly triggered a wave ofprotests against a government seen as not fulfilling the promises of the 2012 electoral campaign. Two other projects of national interest (shale drilling and theRoșia Montană mining project) unleashedmore protests. The demonstrations, initially ecological in focus, became anti-government protests.

In early 2014, the PNL broke away from the USL and entered opposition. Along with the PDL, the PNL formed theChristian Liberal Alliance (ACL) to support the candidature ofKlaus Iohannis asPresident of Romania and later agreed on a future merger that would retain the name of the National Liberal Party (PNL). Iohannis won a surprise victory in front of the incumbent PM Victor Ponta in the second round of the2014 presidential elections, by a margin of 54.43%.^[13] At that time, manyvoters abroad were rightfully angry because they were not all given the right to cast their ballots, which represented one of the key reasons for Ponta's defeat.

In late 2015,another series of nationwide protests ultimately prompted Prime Minister Victor Ponta's resignation. Shortly afterward, President Iohannis appointed thenindependent-technocratDacian Cioloș asPrime Minister,^[14] who led a likewise independent-technocratic government between late 2015 and early 2017.

Thelegislative elections of 11 December 2016 saw a predictable comeback of the PSD as the major party in the Romanian Parliament, as most opinion polls gave them an electoral score of at least 40%. AlongsideALDE (a main splinter group from the PNL), the PSD initially formed a governing coalition under Prime MinisterSorin Grindeanu.^[15]

In early 2017,a series of massive nationwide protests (the greatest in Romania's history) requested Grindeanu's resignation and early elections because of the government's secret procedure of giving an ordinance modifying the Penal Code and Penal Procedure Code on the night of 31 January. The PM along with the entire government refused to step down but decided to withdraw the decrees that started the protests on 5 February at the protests' peak.

Approximately four months later, tensions arose between PM Sorin Grindeanu and PSD leaderLiviu Dragnea, which ultimately resulted in the loss of political support for the government on behalf of the PSD-ALDE coalition. The PM refused to resign but was eventually dismissed by a motion of no confidence passed by the Parliament with 241 votes (233 minimum needed).

Quickly afterward,Mihai Tudose was proposed by the socialists for the position of prime minister and was subsequently accepted by president Iohannis.^[16] However, just after 6 months of governance, he resigned from this dignity. Consequently, the ruling coalition nominated a new Prime Minister candidate in the person ofViorica Dăncilă, a former socialistMEP in2014–19 who was also accepted by the state president. She was also the first female Prime Minister of Romania.^[17] Subsequently, on 4 November 2019, after a motion of no confidence, the PSD minority government was replaced by a minority cabinet led by the National Liberal Party underLudovic Orban.^[18] Furthermore, in November 2019, President Klaus Iohannis wasre-elected by a landslide (withFDGR/DFDR,USR PLUS, andPMP support in the second round).^[19]

This period (i.e. the two years spanning between 2017 and 2019) was marked by governmental mayhem produced by the previous PSD-ALDE ruling coalition regarding their change of PMs as well as their intentions of changing both the Penal Code and the Penal Procedure Code, the Romanian society took to the streets of Bucharest and many other major cities of the country in huge numbers for more than 500 consecutive days in order to oppose the modification of these law packages, prompt early elections, as well as a referendum on the topic of justice.^[20]

The2020 Romanian local elections which were held on 27 September were won by the PNL. Nonetheless, on 6 December, the PNL finished second in the2020 Romanian legislative election. The election was won by the oppositionalSocial Democrats (PSD) who came in first. Shortly after the official results came out, Orban resigned from his position as PM and was replaced byNicolae Ciucă as acting/ad interim PM.^[21]

In the meantime, the national liberals proceeded to negotiate the formation of a coalition government alongside USR PLUS and UDMR for a reportedly stable center-right governance for the next four years in Romania. The newly designated PM was thereforeFlorin Cîțu, a member of theNational Liberal Party (PNL), who took office on 23 December 2020, after forming a three-party, center-right coalition consisting of the PNL, theUSR PLUS, and theDemocratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR/RMDSZ).^[22]

Subsequently, in early September 2021, USR PLUS decided to exit theCîțu Cabinet and so the three centre-right party alliance was officially disbanded, inadvertently leading to the major2021 Romanian political crisis which lasted for nearly three months, untilNicolae Ciucă was invested PM along with theCNR cabinet in late November 2021.^[23] On 15 June 2023,Marcel Ciolacu (PSD) was sworn in as the new Romanian Prime Minister. Rotating premiership had been long agreed as part of a deal by the ruling coalition.^[24] Since the investment of theCNR cabinet, Romania has been experiencing a clear shift towardsauthoritarianism,illiberalism and has the characteristics of ahybrid regime behind a constitutional facade.^{[25][26][27][28]}

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In 2024, all 4 types of elections took place in Romania, a first in the post-December history of the country.European Parliament election andthe local election took place simultaneously on June 9, the European Parliament election being won by thePSD-PNL Alliance, and the local ones by theSocial Democratic Party (which ran separately from theliberals in most counties). The European Parliament and local elections also provided positive results for thenationalist parties such as theAlliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) which sent 5 MEPs to theEuropean Parliament and the more radical formationS.O.S. Romania which sent 2 MEPs. Also, in these elections, AUR strengthened its position in the territory by winning important seats in the county and local councils. Also, the simultaneous organization of the 2 elections on the same day was also met with problems and reports related to electoral fraud, the biggest scandals that came to the surface after the election were in sector 1 and sector 2 ofBucharest.

The first round of the2024 presidential election was held on 24 November, with independent candidateCălin Georgescu winning the first round with 22.9% and USR candidateElena Lasconi finishing second with 19.2%.^[29]Afteraccusations of Russian interference in the election,^{[30][31][32][33]} the CCR called on 28 November for a recount of all 1st round votes,^[33] after which it validated the results five days later.^[34] However, the CCR reversed its validation on 6 December following new CSAT documents declassified by Iohannis two days previously.^[35][36]

The2024 parliamentary election took place on 1 December. They took place within a relatively tense context andpolarization in society as a result of the events that followed the 1st round of the presidential elections on 24 November such as theanti-extremism demonstrations and the counter-demonstrations of Călin Georgescu's supporters.^[37] The parliamentary election were won by the rulingsocial-democrats, but with a lower score compared to the previous election in 2020. The official results indicated a hung parliament that requires the formation of a broad governing coalition for a stable majority. In the first days after the parliamentary election, there was discussion about the formation of a cordon sanitaire to isolate the so-calledsovereignist block (consisting of the parties AUR,SOS RO andPOT) and the formation of a stable pro-European coalition formed by PSD, PNL,USR,UDMR andethnic minority parties.^[38] As a result of the annulment of the first round of presidential election,REPER requested theCentral Electoral Office to annul theparliamentary election emphasizing that the reasons that led to the decision of the CCR are also valid for the parliamentary election.^[39]Vlad Gheorghe, the leader of the partyDREPT, also called for the annulment of the parliamentary elections citing (the same "causes"): "Russian interference", "manipulation and disinformation of the population”.^[40]

Meanwhile, the negotiations between PSD, PNL, USR and UDMR have reached an impasse, USR making several requests to the potential coalition partners such as tax cuts, the resignation of the presidentKlaus Iohannis, the rapid adoption of the new budget, the start of the procedures for the initiation of the referendum "no convicted criminals from holding public office" and the resignation of the heads of the intelligence services.^[41] In the end, the USR stayed out of the negotiations on the future governing coalition^[42] thus the return of the old PSD-PNL-UDMR-minorities formula that was between 2021 and 2023 during theCiucă Cabinet materialized. On 23 December 2024, the new government was invested with a fragile majority (a little over 50%),Second Ciolacu cabinet.^[43][44] In January 2025, the2025 presidential election was scheduled for May.^[45] In the runoff on 18 May,Nicușor Dan defeatedGeorge Simion, withhis presidency beginning on 26 May 2025.^[46]

On 1 January 2007,Romania became amember of the European Union (EU) in the fifth wave ofEU enlargement.^[47] During the 2000s, Romania implemented a number of reforms to prepare for EU accession, including the consolidation of its democratic systems, the institution of therule of law, the acknowledgement of respect forhuman rights, the commitment to personalfreedom of expression, and the implementation of a functioningfree-market economy.

Romania joined theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on 29 March 2004, following the decision taken at thePrague Summit, in November 2002. Romania was a partner to the allied forces during theGulf War, particularly during its service as president of theUN Security Council. Romania has been active in peacekeeping operations inUNAVEM inAngola,IFOR/SFOR inBosnia,Albania, inAfghanistan and sent 860 troops toIraq after the invasion led by theUnited States.

Romania has developed strongrelations with Hungary, with the latter playing a key role in supporting Romania's bid to join the EU.^{[citation needed]} Romania'sethnic Hungarian party also participated in all the government coalitions between 1996 and 2008 and from 2009. In 1996, Romania signed and ratified a basic bilateral treaty with Hungary that settled outstanding disagreements, laying the foundation for closer, more cooperative relations.^[48]

Bulgarian relations with Romania feature regular official visits by the two presidents. In the first half of the 20th century, Romania and Bulgaria had a serious conflict over theDobruja region. This dispute, while now largely forgotten, escalated into all out war in 1913. The territorial dispute between the two countries ended with theTreaty of Craiova.

• Mass media in Romania
• Human rights in Romania
• Military of Romania
• Relations of Romania with Moldova
• Movement for unification of Romania and Moldova

• List of Romanian Embassies
• World Statesmen: Romania, including a comprehensive list of princes, monarchs, prime ministers, etc.
• Erik Herron's Guide to Politics of East Central Europe and Eurasia

• John Hickman and Chris Little, "Seat/Vote Proportionality in Romanian and Spanish Parliamentary Elections",Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans Volume 2, Number 2, November 2000.

• Politics of Romania

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