“Dan’s analytical approach could prove valuable in these complex negotiations at a time when eastern Europe is becoming increasingly central to European security architecture,” said Calistru. “This is also an opportunity to rebuild Romania’s credibility in Brussels after years of fiscal slippage.”
Otilia Nuțu, a public policy analyst at Bucharest-based think tank Expert Forum, said it was time for Romania to have “a stronger voice” in Brussels.
“Romania is a large EU member state, and we should be playing a much more active role than we have so far.” Nuțu added: “We don’t know how long we can count on U.S. support, and it’s crucial that we become a voice pushing for European unity. The president must clearly state that Ukraine’s victory in the war is an existential issue for us.”
Romania ought to be a vital partner for Western interests. | Bodgan Cristel/EPA
That should include pushing for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets and their transfer to Ukraine to finance defense and reconstruction, Nuțu said.
Restoring faith in democracy
Dan himself has said he wants to revive the nation’s faith in democracy, which was already weak and then suffered a disastrous blow after last year’s presidential election was canceled amid claims of foreign interference.
That task will include dealing with corruption at all levels, appointing robust new judges and prosecutors, and breaking the stranglehold of established political parties like the PSD and the National Liberal Party (PNL) on the way politics works.
Political parties in the country are seen as corrupt and self-serving, said Oana Popescu-Zamfir, a former government adviser in Romania and an expert at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “Politics in general is seen as something you do if you want to get rich or you want to gain influence; it’s not seen as a legitimate job or profession in many ways,” she said. “It’s an open question how Nicușor Dan is going to be able to work with the parties, but he has done it as mayor. What people are noting these days is his huge capacity to learn.”
Dan told POLITICO that there is “pressure from society” on “the old political class” to reform the way it operates after years of failure. “I think that they understood that they have to change something, some important things,” he said.