The 2026 budget draft will pass Parliament, and the governing coalition will continue its activity with Ilie Bolojan as prime minister until the reshuffle, believes the president of the UDMR, Kelemen Hunor.
"It will pass, for sure, it will pass. It will pass tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. I can't estimate, but it will pass, I'm convinced of this," Kelemen Hunor told Digi24.
He specified that the UDMR "came up with a compromise solution".
"Here we must see, first of all, where this whole story comes from. There are around 2.8 million, 2,800,000 pensioners. It is a vulnerable category with a pension of under 3,000 lei, up to 3,000 lei. And from the very beginning there was a discussion that the Government, from the 2026 budget, would give a one-off payment, because it was not possible to index pensions. That would have been desirable, of course, but it was not possible. (...) We have a moral and political obligation for these people who today are making calculations with 2,000, 2,500, 2,800 lei a pension, if they pay for medicine, food or maintenance and current expenses in their homes. And yes, here we have this moral obligation to help these most vulnerable people," said Kelemen Hunor
The UDMR leader explained the solution proposed within the coalition.
"We came up with a compromise solution. I said that if we currently have 1.7 billion, then it remains as it is, but we are putting forward an amendment in which the commitment credits, not the budget credits, are increased by 1.2 billion, 1.3 billion, as needed, and after the rectification in July, budget credits will be secured and it will be paid in two stages, in two phases. The first stage by June and the second stage after the rectification, it may be in September, it may be in October, it is not a problem. This was the discussion at some point in the coalition and now we have returned with this compromise solution," the UDMR leader emphasized.
He added that "commitment credits also affect the budget deficit, but here we can calculate further, so that we go for the 6.2%, 6.3% budget deficit option and also ensure these amounts for pensioners."
Kelemen Hunor believes that "it is not a defeat for Ilie Bolojan, for the Government, or for the coalition if the budget bill is amended in Parliament."
"That's why we have Parliament. There was only one time when the budget law was not amended, when Ludovic Orban came with the assumption in 2019 with the budget law. (...) I believe that in the end a solution will be found and the budget will be voted on and it will not be a defeat for either the prime minister, the government, or the coalition. Here we are talking about those people who are the most vulnerable at this moment in our country," the UDMR leader pointed out.
Asked if the tensions in the public space were also felt in the coalition meetings, namely if Sorin Grindeanu had told Ilie Bolojan that PSD no longer wanted to govern with him, Kelemen Hunor replied: "Not exactly like that, but there were discussions. He said that a referendum was coming, but the discussion was not in these terms."
The UDMR leader declared himself convinced that the current coalition will continue until the election.
"I am convinced that this coalition must move forward. We have a year and until then we must move forward in this formula - this is my point of view. And Ilie Bolojan continues as prime minister until the reshuffle - this is how I think it will happen. Who wants to be prime minister for 10-11 months if Bolojan leaves? Bolojan must not leave. This is not about leaving, getting upset. This is, of course, an unpleasant, conflictual, tense discussion, but from my point of view, this coalition must move forward. It has a lot of issues that have been done and people are waiting for decisions, results. Anyway, we have problems and will have problems in the economy because of the war in the Middle East, we will continue to have problems because of the war between Russia and Ukraine. So there are so many problems that "We are wasting people's time with such disputes," said Kelemen Hunor.
Asked if PSD will move forward with the idea of leaving the government, because it no longer wants Ilie Bolojan as prime minister, and what it will mean from a financial point of view for Romania, Kelemen Hunor showed that "everyone knew what the problems would be."
"Last year, when we all agreed to go into this coalition with Ilie Bolojan, everyone knew what the problems were, everyone knew who Ilie Bolojan was and what the challenges were in front of us. So, from my point of view, you can't make these changes permanently. That's life. So until next year you have to go like this. A political crisis wouldn't be a problem if it's resolved the next day, if you have a solution to resolve a political crisis, because you don't have to be afraid of government crises for a week, for two weeks. But at this moment I don't see the alternative. That's why I believe that this coalition will move forward," the UDMR leader mentioned.
The UDMR leader emphasized that the PNL is the one who can decide whether the Government continues with Ilie Bolojan as Prime Minister.
"The PNL must agree to something like this. I have said many times, it does not depend on me or the other leaders, it depends only on the PNL. He is the chairman of the PNL. From my point of view, these image games have no place," said Kelemen Hunor.
Comentează