The Senate rejected the AUR simple motion against Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare, with 46 votes against

The Senate rejected on Wednesday the simple motion filed by AUR against Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare. The document, titled “The State Budget at the Hour of Truth. The Same Minister, Two Sets of Accounts: One for Romanians, Another for Brussels,” received 21 votes in favor, 46 against and 13 abstentions. Another 14 senators did not vote.

During the debate, the Finance Minister rejected the accusations that budget data had been presented differently. Alexandru Nazare said that Romania has a single budget execution and two methods—both public and provided for under national and European legislation—for interpreting it. The minister argued that the deficit is declining according to both the national and European methodologies, from one quarter to the next and from one year to the next.

AUR accused Nazare of selectively presenting the state of public finances and promoting the deficit calculated using the cash-flow-based methodology, without sufficiently communicating the indicators calculated under the European ESA system, which is used to assess Romania’s fiscal situation in Brussels. AUR Senator Petrișor Peiu cited the risk of a recession in 2026 and the high level of inflation.

PSD and PNL senators criticized the motion. Eugen Dogariu accused AUR of hypocrisy and of promoting scandal, while Gabriela Horga argued that PSD was attacking the Finance Minister through the AUR party. The motion had been signed by 30 AUR lawmakers and four unaffiliated senators.