Romania’s pro-European parties agree to form coalition government

The coalition will potentially endorse a single candidate in new presidential election.

Romania’s pro-European parties have agreed to form a majority government in a move that will shut out far-right nationalists.

The leftist Social Democratic Party, or PSD – which topped the polls in the December 1 election – reached an agreement late on Tuesday to form a coalition with the centre-right National Liberal Party (PNL), the reformist Save Romania Union party (USR), and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party.

The election also saw three ultranationalist and hard-right groupings, some overtly pro-Russian, win more than a third of seats.

The country’s parliamentary election followed shortly after a presidential vote in which the far-right, NATO-critic Calin Georgescu won the first round, prompting allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference.

Days before the December 8 presidential run-off, the Constitutional Court annulled the presidential race.