Romania’s Axing of Finance Minister Exposes Rift in Ruling Party

In a surprise move, Romania's Prime Minister, Florin Citu, on Thursday sacked the Minister of Finance, his fellow National Liberal Party member, Alexandru Nazare.

"We have delayed projects at the Ministry of Finance - important projects to attract European funds and to eliminate tax evasion," Citu said after the government meeting in which he fired Nazare.

Hours after his dismissal, Nazare defended his record on Facebook. "There are no delays in the projects of the Finance Ministry," he wrote. 

The ex-minister said he suspected his axing was related to Citu's ambition to become the next leader of the ruling National Liberal Party, PNL. Nazare revealed a conversation he had with Citu in which the Prime Minister said the sacking decision was not related to the "results" of his ministry, but to "the team".

"Possibly, he was referring to the fact that I didn't join the team that supports him in his campaign for the post of PNL leader," Nazare wrote on Facebook, explaining that he had opted to remain "neutral" in this matter to better serve "the interests of Romanians" as a Finance Minister. 

A relatively young technocrat with experience in private banking, 49-year-old Citu will challenge the current PNL leader, former prime minister and parliament speaker Ludovic Orban, 58, at the party's congress due on September 25.

The race for the leadership of the party has split the PNL into two camps, with the two candidates rallying support among party leaders across the country.

Nazare also criticised Citu, who was Finance Minister between November 2019 and December 2020, for the timing of his sacking. 

According to him, the Prime Minister informed him of his intention on Tuesday, "a day before Romania issued Eurobonds",...