Crisis Chronology

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ROMANIA

08/16/2023

Ukraine says Russia has bombed grain storehouses in southwestern Ukraine, near the Danube River that is the border with Romania.

04/28/2023

An agreement in principle is reached to restore Ukraine grain trade to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

11/25/2021

New government approved

Parliament approves grand coalition government of Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă. The cabinet includes eight ministers from Ciucă’s center-right National Liberal Party (PNL), nine members from the center-left Social Democratic Party, and three from the ethnic Hungarian UDMR group. UDMR leader Hunor Kelemen will be deputy prime minister.

10/21/2021

Retired army general Nicolae Ciuca is nominated to be prime minister. The COVID-19 pandemic has reached a new high in the country.

10/20/2021

Parliament rejects nomination of Ciolas.

10/12/2021

Dacian Ciolos, a former EU agriculture commissioner who had served as prime minister and is a member of the reform-minded USR, is nominated to form a new government.

10/05/2021

Government falls

Citu government loses a vote of no confidence after the Union to Save Romania (USR, formerly known as USR-PLUS, a relatively new grouping), withdrew its ministers in a row over a regional development fund, stripping him of a parliamentary majority. USR then filed a no-confidence motion, refusing to return to the until Citu was ousted. Dacian Cioloş, who was this week named the new leader of USR, will make a bid to replace Cîțu, but due to the party’s junior status in the former coalition, it is more likely that the current coalition will be restored with a new prime minister. Citu will stay on as caretaker premier until a new prime minister is chosen.

09/01/2021

Citu fires Justice Minister Stelian Ion, a member of coalition partner USR, over policy differences, possibly endangering the coalition. Ion opposed a large infrastructure improvement financing arrangement.

12/30/2020

Citu is elected prime minister.

12/18/2020

Ruling coalition forms government

Center-right coalition of Party of National Liberation, the 2020 USR-PLUS party, and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR) form a governing coalition. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) loses substantially. The coalition agrees on finance minister Florin Citu for the prime minister.

12/06/2020

Orban resigns after parliamentary election

Voting for Chamber of Deputies and Senate. The Social Democratic Party (PSD), led by Marcel Ciolacu, wins about 30% of the vote, and the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL) about 25%. The progressive USR-Plus Alliance, which had pledged not to join a PSD government, wins 15%. Orban resigns as prime minister. Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca is named interim prime minister. Turnout is very low. The COVID-19 pandemic depresses turnout.

04/29/2020

Legislation allowing the possibility of limited autonomy for part of Transylvania (the Szekely Land) is allowed to pass in the Chamber of Deputies. Because it was not debated in 45 days from its proposal, it automatically passes. Parliament has been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

03/30/2020

Iohannnis accuses the PSD, which is the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies, of wanting to give Transylvania to Hungary. Marcel Ciolacu, leader of the PSD, denies this and says his party will not support the bill in the Senate.

03/14/2020

Orban is confirmed again as prime minister due to the emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Social Democrats voted to confirm Orban but vowed continued opposition.

02/23/2020

Court blocks Iohannis’s re-nomination of Orban to form a new government, because Orban’s party does not have a majority in parliament.

02/05/2020

Government falls

Orban’s government loses no-confidence vote, likely leading to new elections. Orban remains as interim prime minister. However, his National Liberation Party (PNL) has gained strength in office while the opposition Social Democrats (PSD) has fallen, and the PNL may do well in elections.

11/10/2019

Presidential election. Iohannis is expected to win in a runoff. The other candidates are Social Democrats' (PSD) leader, Viorica Dancila, and Dan Barna from the center-right Save Romanian Union party.

11/04/2019

Orban voted prime minister

Ludovic Orban of the National Liberal Party (PNL) wins confidence vote to become prime minister. The PNL holds only 95 of the 464 seats in parliament, and although all the opposition groups that ended the previous government have pledged support, legislative progress will be difficult.

10/10/2019

Government falls

Center-right opposition wins a no-confidence vote against the government of Viorica Dancila. Dancila’s cabinet lost its majority in parliament in August after her the junior partner, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats of Romania, ALDE, quit the ruling coalition over policy differences. ALDE joined the opposition and has made clear it wants Dancila’s government to fall. The opposition accuses the government and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), of eroding the rule of law and of politicizing public institutions by appointing incapable and corrupt party members. There have been protests against the government since the summer. The opposition has ten days to nominate a prime minister. The presidential election is in November, and it is not clear that a new government can be in place before that.

09/25/2019

Romanian president Iohannis is critical of Moldovan proposal to federalize Transnistria, which would give its Russian citizens a stronger voice in the government. Moldovan President Dodon says the idea is only one of several avenues being explored to solve the Transnistria problem.

05/27/2019

Dragnea is ordered to begin serving a three-year sentence for corruption.

05/25/2019

A new liberal party, the Alliance 2020 USR PLUS surprisingly wins eight EU parliament seats. It is a coalition of the Party for Liberty, Unity and Solidarity, led by former technocrat prime minister Dacian Ciolos, and the Save Romania Union,(USR), a social activist already the third force in parliament. The coalition won 22.4% of the vote, just below the ruling Social Democratic Party (SDP) total of 22.5% and the leading opposition National Liberal Party’s 27%.

05/07/2019

Two candidates suggested by the ruling Social Democratic Party (PSD) are elected to the Constitutional Court. Critics say that five of the nine judges of the court are now allied with the PSD.

02/24/2019

Renewed protests against judicial changes.

08/16/2018

PSD facing internal dissension over reaction to protests, in which more than 400 were injured.

08/13/2018

Protests continue throughout Romania, demanding a new government.

08/10/2018

Second day of protests against corruption, low wages, and attempts by the ruling PSD to weaken the judiciary.

07/14/2018

Protests lose energy as government continues to relax its pursuit of corruption.

07/08/2018

Romania’s chief anti-corruption prosecutor Laura Codruta Kovesi is removed from office.

06/28/2018

Prosecutors in the anti-organized crime unit begin preliminary examination of the facts regarding Orban’s accusation of high treason against Dancila (5/28/18). No word about Dragnea regarding this complaint.

06/26/2018

Politician files criminal complaint with the High Court against Pres. Iohannis for delaying a decision about Codruta Kovesi.

06/25/2018

Dragnea threatens to suspend Pres Iohannis for failing to fire anti-corruption investigator Laura Codruta Kovesi.

06/23/2018

Pres Iohannis announces that he will run for re-election and pledges to fight corruption.

06/22/2018

Dragnea vows that party will seek to pass new laws that restrict corruption investigations.

06/21/2018

Dragnea convicted of fraud

Liviu Dragnea found guilty for creating fake jobs. He will appeal, but the verdict is a blow.

05/31/2018

EU Court of Human Rights rules that Lithuania and Romania violated European Convention on Human Rights by hosting black sites for the US CIA in 2004 and 2005.

05/31/2018

Constitutional Court rules that Iohannis must fire the head of the National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA), Laura Codruta Kovesi and that it will present its reasoning later. The DNA has investigated scores of officials and is pursuing a case against Liviu Dragnea, head of the Social Democrats (the PSD). The justice minister, Tudorel Toader, who is also a member of the constitutional court, requested Kovesi's ouster on 2/22/18, but Iohannis dismissed it as "unclear." Toader has been criticized for defending organized crime by several news organizations.

05/18/2018

Ludovic Orban, leader of the opposition National Liberal Party, files a complaint with the general prosecutor’s office against Prime Minister Dancila and PSD leader Dragnea accusing them of treason and other crimes, all related to the secret move to Jerusalem of the Romanian embassy in Israel.

01/17/2018

Dancila becomes prime minister

Pres Iohannis approves ruling Social Democrat Party’s nominee for prime minister, Viorica Dancila. She is known for her advocacy of women’s rights.

01/16/2018

Tudose is forced out.

01/08/2018

PM Tudose meets with Social Democratic Party leaders reportedly to attempt to remove Dragnea as chairman.

12/10/2017

Large protests against corruption in Romania.

11/21/2017

Romanian National Anti-Corruption Directorate (DNA) freezes assets of PSD head Liviu Dragnea and others for fraud involving EU funds.

11/08/2017

Continuing protests in Romania against judicial and now tax code changes.

11/06/2017

Protests in Romania against legislation that would undercut the independence of the judiciary. It would remove the president from the process of naming chief prosecutors and place the judiciary and investigatory staff under control of the justice ministry.