The budget for 2026, blocked: coalition leaders meet on Thursday at Parliament to resume negotiations

The leaders of the governing coalition are meeting on Thursday morning to try to unblock the discussions regarding the state budget for 2026, after the talks were stalled in the joint budget-finance committees.

On Wednesday, the discussions were suspended due to an amendment proposed by PSD, which generated mutual accusations between the governing parties. PSD accused PNL and USR of "impoverishing the Romanian people," while the liberals argued that the social democrats want to compromise the budget deficit.

The PSD amendment was rejected, and the discussions were suspended without a set date for resumption. The president of PSD, Sorin Grindeanu, stated that he will fight for the rights of pensioners and children with disabilities, while the USR leader, Dominic Fritz, accused PSD of generating an "artificial crisis". Kelemen Hunor from UDMR expressed optimism regarding the adoption of the budget, while George Simion from AUR proposed an alternative budget that respects the laws and social needs.

On Thursday, Parliament is expected to finalize the discussions and vote on the budget projects for 2026.