Nicușor Dan, shortly the first interview of 2026, in a moment of tension between PSD and Prime Minister Bolojan
The President of Romania, Nicușor Dan, at the EU summit in Brussels, Thursday, January 22, 2026. Credit line: Harry Nakos / AP / Profimedia
Today, from 21.00, the president will give an interview to Digi24 television. Tensions in the governing coalition, economic measures or Romania's foreign policy between Europe and the US are among the topics of the interview, according to the announcement published on the website.
HotNews will transmit in LIVETEXT format the main statements of the president
The presence at Digi24 is the first interview the president will give in 2026 and comes at a time of tension in the coalition, with repeated attacks from PSD on Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan.
Coalition tensions
Nicușor Dan had meetings in the last few days with two of the coalition leaders – Ilie Bolojan (PNL) and Dominic Fritz (USR). Ilie Bolojan and President Nicușor Dan met on Monday morning at the Cotroceni Palace to discuss the budget for 2026 and the Prime Minister's visit to Germany. On Wednesday, there was a discussion between the president and Dominic Fritz, the leader of the USR.
Tensions have escalated in recent weeks, and PSD leaders have attacked the government's economic measures, especially the increase in local taxes and fees, but also budget allocations. Claudiu Manda, the general secretary of the PSD, threatened the prime minister with the censure motion.
In parallel, PSD members are being consulted about the party's exit from the Government and, according to some sources, this internal consultation will be completed after the 2026 budget is adopted.
Questioned on this topic in an interview for RFI Romania, Ilie Bolojan said on Tuesday that he “doesn't rule out” an interim government without PSD such a scenario, but he emphasized that “it is not a working hypothesis” and that “it is desirable to have political stability”.
Appointment of heads of services
Also, the president is expected in the first part of the year to announce who he appoints for the head of SRI and SIE, a backlog that the head of state did not solve in the first 6 months of his mandate. Nicușor Dan needs the agreement of the governing parties, those that also have a majority in Parliament, so that the appointments for the heads of SRI and SIE are approved by the legislature.
“The President proposes and the Parliament must vote, precisely from the perspective of this stability (of the coalition – ed.) I don't think it will happen that we don't discuss first. On the contrary, we will discuss so that the appointments are validated by the Parliament”, explained Nicușor Dan last week.
Asked in late November by reporters when he would make the intelligence chief appointments, the president replied curtly: “Probably early next year.”
Also, the procedure for selecting the heads of the big packs is in full swing. Appointments are made by the Minister of Justice, with the approval of the CSM, from among those who register for the competition. The last word belongs to the president who can refuse, with reasons, the proposals coming from the Ministry of Justice.
The initiation of the procedure for appointing the heads of the Prosecutor's Offices comes about a month after the discussions in Cotroceni with the magistrates convened following the revelations in the Recorder documentary “Captured Justice”.
Romania's foreign policy
The growing tensions between the Trump administration in the US and European states is another sensitive topic on the president's table for 2026. Romania is among the states invited to join the Peace Council. President Nicușor Dan said for now that he is still thinking. The condition for a permanent seat on this board is the payment of a sum of 1 billion dollars. PSD President Sorin Grindeanu requested that Romania pay this amount.
On the occasion of a trip to Brussels, at the European Council last week, Nicușor Dan announced that although the European treaties oblige Romania to show solidarity with Denmark in the Greenland crisis, Bucharest will not take any step back from its relationship with Washington. He also called for dialogue to defuse tensions between the allies.
