Dragoș Benea, PSD deputy leader: A PSD–AUR government would not be tragic

MEP and PSD deputy leader Dragoș Benea says that forming a PSD–AUR government would not be “anything so tragic” and calls for abandoning the idea of a “cordon sanitaire” around the party led by George Simion. The statement was made in an interview with Cotidianul Podcasts, amid consultations on the appointment of a prime minister.

Benea says that AUR can no longer be considered, at this point, “a purely extremist party” and notes that his position differs from that expressed by the PSD leadership. He accuses the traditional parties of applying a double standard after AUR was labeled extremist when it voted alongside the PSD on the no-confidence motion that led to the fall of the Bolojan government on May 5.

The Social Democrat believes that AUR contributed to keeping Ilie Bolojan in the position of interim prime minister because the party allegedly did not act consistently to remove him. In Benea’s view, blocking a PSD–AUR alliance could be based either on a lack of trust or on an electoral calculation related to early elections and the 2028 vote.

President Nicușor Dan intends to invite the parties to consultations on Thursday to appoint a prime minister, according to sources in the Presidential Administration.