President Dan convenes informal consultations with parties on country's economic and political situation on Wednesday

  President Nicusor Dan will hold a round of informal consultations with the parliamentary political parties and organizations at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace on Wednesday. “Tomorrow, we’ve set a schedule—from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., with an hour and a half allocated for each meeting. I’ve spoken with party leaders over the phone, and today, the administrative team will send out the official invitations,” Nicusor Dan told journalists Tuesday morning in front of his residence, when asked if he would begin negotiations with the political parties.   “This is the first round of talks, which is why they are informal. Even though they are scheduled, they remain informal and will continue,” the president explained when asked whether he would nominate a PSD prime minister if the Social Democrats condition their participation in government on holding the premiership.The program of the consultations is as follows:* Social Democratic Party (PSD) - 09:00;* National Liberal Party (PNL) - 10:30;* Save Romania Union (USR) - 12:00;* Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) - 13:30;* Parliamentary Group of National Minorities - 15:00;* Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) - 16:00;* S.O.S. Romania Party - 17:00;* Party of the Young People (POT) - 18:00;* Unaffiliated parliamentarians - 19:00.Interim PSD leader Sorin Grindeanu said the party is preparing a set of economic measures to present at Cotroceni, emphasizing clear red lines: no underfunding of local authorities, no cuts to major infrastructure investments, and no reduction in Romanians’ incomes. He highlighted past efforts in funding local projects and infrastructure and warned that PSD won’t support policies that jeopardize these priorities.   “I appreciate the openness that the new president is showing, I understood from the electoral campaign that he wants, and he wanted even then, a pro-European majority. But that does not mean that certain things that I mentioned, namely those red lines, we can cross so easily,” Sorin Grindeanu declared on Antena 1   In his turn, PSD spokesman Florin Manole told Digi24 on Tuesday that the party will go to Wednesday’s consultations in Cotroceni with President Nicu?or Dan “with solutions.” He also said that the discussions will focus on “some principles” and only then, if there is consensus on “some issues,” on finding a person to lead the Government.   “PSD will go to the discussions at Cotroceni Palace with President Nicu?or Dan with all openness. We are not AUR by any means, we are a constructive party, which has solutions. We will put these solutions on the table for discussion and then we will see what the reaction of the president will be, the reaction of the other parties and only then can we get to discussions about people and positions”, declared Florin Manole. The new PSD spokesperson said that the party will go to the discussions at Cotroceni with concrete figures from the first weeks, which show that the Ministry of Finance has already “done its job” and that “the deficit is below the forecast, which, in turn, was last year’s.   In relation to the opinions of mayors Constantin Toma (Buzau) and Daniel Baluta (Sector 4 Bucharest), according to which the PSD should enter government, Florin Manole said that “Mr. Toma often exaggerates and uses unrealistic themes to legitimize themes that are not real”.   “This country is not in crisis and you can look at the statements of the NBR officials and the budget execution (…). The problem that was was caused by an extremist candidate who threatened to take over investors from the country and abroad and who created an extremely harmful environment and I think everyone saw that Geroge Simion’s entry into the second round ruined the course“, Manole mentioned.   The PSD spokesperson said that some colleagues are for entering the government, others are against, but that the party’s decision is to “move forward” first and foremost “on some principles, with all openness”, because it is an extremely important thing.   MP Mihai Fifor declared in his turn on Tuesday that PSD is not going to consultations with the president to discuss positions or the sharing of power, and will not propose a prime minister or negotiate ministries.   În turn, USR interim president Dominic Fritz said on Tuesday that the fiscal reforms announced by President Nicusor Dan, which must be adopted to solve Romania’s budget deficit problem, cannot be adopted in Parliament without the support of the PSD. “Mathematical reality shows that, without PSD, you cannot pass these important reforms,” the USR leader admitted. “What we cannot do is finance a third of the country’s budget with debt.”   Asked if the USR would enter a government with a PSD prime minister, Fritz replied that he wanted the head of the Executive to be the liberal Ilie Bolojan. “I am confident that we will be able to reach such a result in these negotiations,” said the USR leader. Dominic Fritz added that, in this political-economic context, “we will have to see how we spend the money we already have.”“We do not believe that increasing taxes is a solution. We are confident that we will find solutions to balance the budget,” said Dominic Fritz. Regarding the conditions set by the PSD at the “informal discussions” convened by Nicusor Dan for the formation of a new government, the USR leader said that “this is not the time to enter into negotiations with red lines.” “We are not clinging to positions. It is important that the reform agenda announced by President Nicusor Dan be implemented. We will vote for any law that implements this agenda,” said the interim president of the USR.   UDMR leader Kelemen Hunor said on Tuesday he was skeptical about the VAT increase, as a measure that could lead to additional revenue for the budget, given the fiscal reforms that President Nicusor Dan has announced as necessary to avoid an economic crisis. The UDMR leader also said that Romania is not yet ready for progressive taxation and said he was “convinced” that the PSD will enter government in a majority government.   “Increasing VAT by 1% means around 7 billion. It might stop consumption. Then, what is on paper will not be in reality. Of course, inflation will increase. From this point of view, it must be thought out very carefully. I would not venture, we must see which is the best, most suitable option, we must leave time for society, for business people, for companies, for everyone, to know what is coming. It cannot be introduced from one day to the next“, said Kelemen Hunor.   According to the UDMR chairman, “the first option for everyone” is the formation of a majority government. “I am convinced that it will be a majority government,” the UDMR leader said, in connection with the outcome of the “informal discussions” announced at Cotroceni for Wednesday. Thus, if President Nicusor Dan officially nominates Ilie Bolojan as prime minister, Kelemen Hunor said that “Bolojan will have the duty, the obligation, the responsibility to create a majority and I am convinced that he will succeed, because the PSD, as I believe, will be in the government.”   AUR Vice President Dan Tanasa asks Nicusor Dan, in a letter, to apologize for the fact that he declared, during the electoral campaign, that he would collaborate, as president, “only with certain parliamentary parties, deliberately excluding formations that have received the trust of millions of Romanian citizens”.   He asks the head of state to withdraw his statements, otherwise AUR will not participate in the consultations at Cotroceni. According to the official agenda sent by the Presidential Administration, Nicusor Dan is scheduled to hold informal consultations with AUR representatives on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. The head of state included all political parties and formations in the Romanian Parliament in the informal consultations on the country’s economic and political situation.   “On behalf of the millions of Romanians who want a real, profound and irreversible change in the political life of the country, we publicly ask you to apologize for the biased and deeply undemocratic statements made during the electoral campaign, in your capacity as a candidate for the highest office in the state. You declared, without reservation, that in the event that you become president, you will collaborate only with certain parliamentary parties, deliberately excluding formations that have received the trust of millions of Romanian citizens. This position not only violates the spirit of the Constitution, which obliges you to impartiality and to represent the entire people, but betrays a dangerous vision for Romanian democracy, one in which the president is no longer a mediator, but an instrument of party interests,” the AUR press release states.   The vice president of the party led by George Simion, Dan Tanasa, also tells Nicusor Dan that if he does not apologize publicly, then AUR cannot endorse “a simulacrum of dialogue” that only aims to bring the same “system parties” back to power.