Dominic Fritz, on the budget for 2026: “USR will not agree to say “let's go to the notebook and let the next generation pay for the PSD gifts””
Dominic Fritz, at the USR congress held in Bucharest, June 21, 2025. Inquam Photos / Octav Ganea
USR leader Dominic Fritz said that currently “the only responsible solution” to reduce the budget deficit is to reduce state spending, because “the quick fix of raising taxes has run out.”
“I am not satisfied either with the speed or with the depth of the reforms we are making,” said Dominic Fritz, in an interview broadcast on Saturday by Antena 3.
Asked who is reducing the speed of reforms, the USR leader answered: “Well, now, it's obvious. I don't give marks to my colleagues in the coalition, but it's obvious that, for example, PSD played a very interesting game, to be a diplomat, in the last months.”
“Forget the reform of the local administration, i.e. the reduction of personnel expenses in the town halls, they said, wait a minute, we can't do it until we also make a reduction of expenses in the central administration; now, after we got to the central administration, they said, wait, wait, not there, not there, not there (…). The important thing is that now we have found a bit of a consensus”, continued Fritz.
“Too big a bill is being paid by the next generation”
The President of the USR was asked if they will be caught in the budget for 2026 and the aid promised by the PSD for those who receive small pensions
“It hasn't been discussed with me, so I don't think this discussion is closed yet. Of course everyone has new ideas how we can spend money, including good ideas, but the PSD has to explain where to get this money. Where the USR will not agree is to say 'let's go to the notebook and let the next generation pay for the PSD gifts this year', that is not possible,” replied Dominic Fritz.
He warned that “the reality is that we are going into debt, and too much of the bill for our consumption today is being paid by the next generation.”
“Enough, the quick fix to raise taxes has run out, now the only responsible solution is to cut spending, and that's why I'm worried about certain positions where we pretend that borrowing to pay current expenses is something normal. It's not something normal, and that's exactly why I expect this coalition to continue to take on deficit reduction,” said USR leader Dominic Fritz.
