Dominic Fritz, the German-born mayor of Timișoara, was elected president of the Save Romania Union (USR) on 13 June, winning the party’s internal ballot in the first round. He succeeds Cătălin Drulă at the helm of Romania’s main pro-European opposition force after defeating former labour minister Violeta Alexandru. In his first remarks, Fritz dismissed the idea that President Nicușor Dan should appoint a technocratic prime minister and instead endorsed Ilie Bolojan, the interim leader of the National Liberal Party, saying the next government needs clear authority rather than rotational or caretaker arrangements. Bolojan signalled he is ready to take the post and warned that any cabinet he leads will have to enact a deficit-reduction programme featuring higher taxes, cuts to special pensions, elimination of state sinecures and audits of public investments. “Most of the measures are unpopular, but necessary,” he told reporters. President Dan is expected to nominate a new premier next week. While other names such as economist Ionuț Dumitru and IMF official Delia Velculescu have been floated, political negotiations now centre on Bolojan. The nationalist AUR party attacked Fritz’s election on citizenship grounds, a claim USR officials have rejected, but the criticism is unlikely to affect the coalition talks.