Luca Niculescu and Sorin Grindeanu discussed by phone / What conditions does the PSD set for supporting the Government (Sources)

Designated Prime Minister Luca Niculescu and PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu had an initial phone conversation, and a face-to-face meeting between the two is expected to take place on Thursday, according to political sources cited by Digi24. The discussion is the first known direct contact between the designated prime minister and the PSD leadership in the context of negotiations to form the new Government.

The location of the meeting has not yet been decided. The cited sources claim that the Social Democrats do not intend to discuss the allocation of ministries at this first meeting, but will focus on the program and political direction proposed by Luca Niculescu.

Sorin Grindeanu announced that PSD support for the Government's investiture is conditional on abandoning the policies associated with former Prime Minister Bolojan and the PNL-USR alliance. The Social Democrats' “red line” is for there to be a genuine desire to detach Romania from these measures, the PSD leader stated.

The investiture vote depends on when Luca Niculescu submits the government program and the list of ministers to Parliament. The procedure is not expected to take place this week. Under the Constitution, the designated prime minister has 10 days to present these documents to Parliament, with the deadline expiring on Thursday, September 15.