UDMR senator István-Loránt Antal told the Senate plenary on Wednesday that “under the baton” of Finance Minister Alexandru Nazare the country rating held and Romania was not downgraded to junk — which is why UDMR opposes the simple motion. The remarks came during debate on the AUR motion against Nazare.

Antal called for “a few essential statistics over the past three years” on public finances and recalled that UDMR was pushed out of government by former partners. 2024, he said, was “the year of promises,” with talk of a “fantastic” economy and a 5% deficit forecast that ended at 9% — a gap of nearly four points on the eve of parliamentary and presidential elections.

After the 2024 vote, UDMR returned to government and Tánczos Barna at Finance began “restoring order,” targeting a deficit of about 7% while carrying the previous election-year choices. Of 2026, Antal described early motion talk and later an interim government with warnings that the country would “end up in junk” — a scenario he said Nazare avoided.

“The Romanian stock market throughout this time relied on Minister Nazare’s statements; the market trusted him,” the senator added. He congratulated the new PSD-led government for keeping continuity at Finance and urged Nazare not to take decisions against investment and to support SMEs.

The simple motion — titled “The state budget at the hour of truth…” and signed by AUR MPs plus a few independents — was rejected: 21 votes in favour, 46 against, 13 abstentions. PSD said it would not back the motion; USR called it political diversion, while AUR attacked a lack of transparency in public finances.

The Senate result does not change the minister’s mandate; it only marks the failure of the simple motion on debate day.

Source consulted: Senate — Finance motion / István-Loránt Antal: rating not downgraded to junk — AGERPRES