Critics argue that Bolojan’s austerity-first approach was not only poorly timed — arriving just as the European economy was cooling and global trade tensions were escalating — but fundamentally misguided. Rather than stimulating growth through strategic investment and structural reform, the government chose contraction. The recession that began creeping into the data in late 2025 is now, as of today, an undeniable reality.

The Bolojan government, many analysts agree, is politically spent. It lacks the mandate, the public trust, and the ideological flexibility to navigate Romania through the storm that lies ahead.

In this context, an idea that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago is gaining traction among political commentators, business leaders, and even segments of the diplomatic community: a coalition government between PSD (the Social Democratic Party) and AUR (the Alliance for the Unity of Romanians).

On the surface, this pairing raises eyebrows. PSD, Romania’s largest center-left party, carries decades of institutional experience — and institutional baggage. AUR, the national-conservative force that has surged in popularity since its founding, represents a newer, more combative brand of politics rooted in sovereignty, tradition, and skepticism toward supranational governance.

Yet beneath the surface, a compelling logic binds them together in this particular moment.

Together, they would command a formidable parliamentary majority — enough to push through the bold economic reforms Romania desperately needs: targeted investment in domestic industry, renegotiation of fiscal commitments with Brussels, energy sovereignty measures, and a comprehensive overhaul of the tax system designed to stimulate growth rather than merely plug budgetary holes.

No analysis of Romania’s current predicament is complete without confronting the elephant in the room — or, more precisely, the elephant across the Atlantic.

Since returning to the White House in January 2025, President Donald Trump has pursued his foreign policy vision with characteristic intensity. But this second term has brought a notable evolution. No longer content merely with “America First,” the Trump doctrine has expanded into what observers have dubbed the “Make Europe Great Again” (MEGA) agenda — a concerted effort to reshape the European political landscape by encouraging, supporting, and legitimizing conservative-sovereignist governments across the continent.

The logic, from Washington’s perspective, is straightforward. The Trump administration views the traditional European establishment — with its multilateralism, its regulatory expansionism, and its perceived strategic passivity — as an unreliable partner. Instead, Trump and his circle have consistently signaled a preference for European leaders who prioritize national sovereignty, increase defense spending, reduce dependency on supranational institutions, and align more closely with American strategic interests on a bilateral basis.

This trend is not theoretical. Over the past year, we have witnessed Washington’s warm embrace of like-minded governments across Europe. Leaders who speak the language of sovereignty, national interest, and transactional diplomacy find open doors in Trump’s Washington. Those who cling to the old consensus increasingly find themselves on the outside.

For Romania, this geopolitical reality carries existential implications.

Romania’s relationship with the United States is not merely diplomatic — it is foundational to the country’s national security architecture. Positioned on NATO’s eastern flank, hosting the Deveselu missile defense system, bordering Ukraine and the Black Sea, Romania sits at one of the most sensitive geopolitical junctions on earth.

The Romanian-American strategic partnership, built painstakingly over two decades, has been the cornerstone of Romania’s defense posture and a significant driver of its Euro-Atlantic integration. But that partnership is now under severe strain.

The crisis traces its origins to December 2024, when Romanian authorities made the extraordinary — and deeply controversial — decision to annul the presidential elections. The stated reasons involved concerns over foreign interference and irregularities in the electoral process. But the international perception, particularly in Washington, was devastating.

The Trump administration, already suspicious of what it viewed as establishment maneuvering in European democracies, interpreted the annulment as precisely the kind of anti-democratic institutional overreach it had long criticized. The reaction was swift and unambiguous. High-level diplomatic contacts cooled. Joint military exercises continued on a technical level but lost their political warmth. Investment signals from American corporations dimmed. Romania, once celebrated as a reliable eastern European partner, found itself viewed with a mixture of disappointment and suspicion.

More than a year later, the damage remains largely unrepaired. The Bolojan government, perceived in Washington as a continuation of the establishment that canceled the elections, has been unable to bridge the gap. Diplomatic language remains correct but hollow. The substance of the partnership — the shared strategic planning, the intelligence cooperation, the economic integration — has atrophied.

This is not merely an affront to national pride. It is a security crisis. In a region where Russian influence remains a persistent threat, where the war in Ukraine continues to reshape the security environment, and where the Black Sea is increasingly contested, Romania cannot afford a weakened relationship with its primary security guarantor.

Here is the strategic argument that proponents of the PSD-AUR coalition are making with increasing confidence: only a government that speaks Trump’s language can restore Romania’s standing in Washington.

A PSD-AUR government would signal to the Trump administration that Romania is undergoing the same kind of political realignment that Washington has been encouraging across Europe. It would demonstrate that Romanian democracy is responsive to its people — not captured by a disconnected establishment. It would place at the helm leaders who emphasize national sovereignty, bilateral pragmatism, and a willingness to engage Washington on its own terms.

This is not about ideological submission. It is about strategic alignment. Romania’s interests — security, prosperity, sovereignty — are best served by a strong relationship with the United States. And in the current geopolitical climate, that relationship is most likely to flourish when both sides share a common political vocabulary.

No political solution comes without risks, and intellectual honesty demands that they be acknowledged.

A PSD-AUR coalition would face intense scrutiny from Brussels, where such a combination would be viewed with alarm by many in the European establishment. Internal tensions between PSD’s institutional pragmatism and AUR’s populist energy would need to be carefully managed. And there is always the danger that any government formed in crisis inherits problems too deep to solve within a single electoral cycle.

Moreover, the Romanian public, exhausted by years of political instability, deserves more than another reshuffling of parliamentary seats. They deserve genuine reform — in the judiciary, in public administration, in the economy, and in the quality of democratic governance.

But the argument is not that a PSD-AUR government would be perfect. The argument is that, given the intersection of economic recession, political exhaustion, and geopolitical realignment, it represents the most viable path forward — the option most likely to arrest Romania’s economic decline, restore its international standing, and position the country for recovery.

Romania stands today at one of the most consequential crossroads in its post-communist history. The economy is contracting. The current government has lost the confidence of its people. The transatlantic partnership that underpins national security is fraying. And the broader geopolitical environment is shifting in ways that demand agility, not inertia.

The idea of a PSD-AUR government is bold, unconventional, and certain to provoke fierce debate. But bold times demand bold choices. Romania has always found its way through crisis — not by clinging to failed formulas, but by summoning the courage to try something new.

The question is whether Romania’s political class will rise to this moment — or whether the moment will pass them by.

The clock is ticking. The recession is here. And the world is not waiting for Romania to make up its mind.

By Roberto Casseli