Romancing the Romanian: EU’s liberals and conservatives compete to woo Nicușor Dan 

BRUSSELS — Romania’s new President Nicușor Dan is at the center of a political love triangle as the pan-European parties of French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz are both courting him to join their ranks. 

Dan has been holding discussions with representatives of Macron’s liberal Renew movement and the center-right European People’s Party as he weighs up which EU political grouping would make the perfect match. As an independent politician without a party of his own, he has no automatic home in the European political landscape, unlike other leaders who gather with their party “families” to share ideas and discuss priorities. 

He is also something of a prize for Europe’s centrists, having seen off the challenge of hard-right populist George Simion in May’s presidential election.

Dan’s choice of political home is significant as it has the potential to influence the dynamic among leaders around the summit table in Brussels. While Dan will remain free to follow his own priorities, members of European political parties regularly meet before leaders’ summits to coordinate their positions ahead of the top-level talks and to set long-term strategies; as well as to build networks and make social connections.

At this month’s European Council in Brussels, Dan was invited to the pre-summit meetings of both Renew and the EPP. He had said he would attend them both, but later changed his mind and went to neither. 

“He initially said that he will take part in the meetings, but afterwards decided against it because it wouldn’t have been polite to go from meeting to meeting, considering they were scheduled to have important talks on sensitive topics,” a spokesperson for President Dan said.

Nicușor Dan has apparently given both camps reason to believe he will choose them. | Robert Ghement/EFE via EPA

“He is weighing his decision very carefully, with the utmost respect toward the importance of it, and he will decide for the next [European Council summit] which one of the political families’ meetings he will attend.”

Dan has apparently given both camps reason to believe he will choose them. 

A Renew official argued the liberals had a good chance of catching him because Dan needed to keep the conservatives at arm’s length.

“Dan campaigned against corruption. It wouldn’t be a good look if he ended up siding with the Romanian conservatives, the same who’ve been accused of cronyism back home,” said the official. “Our [liberal] Romanian MEPs are busy buttering him up.”

On the other side, EPP officials seem confident Dan will choose their center-right grouping, based on his own outlook. 

Politically, both options have their appeal for Dan, who is a staunch pro-European in Romania’s political center. While he leans to the right on fiscal issues, especially given Romania’s budget deficit problems, he made his name as an anti-corruption activist. He has the backing of a coalition in parliament made up of all four of Romania’s pro-European parties, including those aligned with both the EPP and Renew. 

After winning May’s presidential election, Dan nominated Ilie Bolojan as his prime minister. Bolojan’s National Liberal Party is affiliated with the EPP.