The majority of Romanians consider early elections necessary, according to a CURS survey conducted between May 1-14, 2026 and published on Sunday, May 17. Inflation and the cost of living remain the main concerns of Romanians, in a context dominated by mistrust and pessimism towards the direction in which the country is heading.
81% of respondents indicate inflation and the cost of living as Romania’s major problems. Other significant concerns are:
political instability – 59%,
corruption – 38%,
national security – 36%,
fuel price – 31%,
lack of jobs – 21%.
Increased pessimism regarding the direction of the country
The general climate is deeply negative, according to the CURS survey:
82% believe that Romania is going in the wrong direction,
only 15% think the direction is good.
The outlook for the future is equally bleak:
44% declare themselves “rather pessimistic”,
26% – “very pessimistic”,
only 28% – optimistic.
“The negative perception of Romania’s evolution is almost universal: more than eight out of ten respondents believe that the country is going in the wrong direction, and the majority of the population looks pessimistically at the coming years. In parallel, the central institutions of the state and political leaders continue to register high levels of mistrust, without any political actor managing to coagulate majority support“, note the poll’s creators (the results, HERE).
The majority of Romanians consider early elections necessary
56% of respondents believe that Romania needs early elections, while 41% oppose this solution. The result indicates, according to the authors of the research, “the existence of significant public pressure to change the current political configuration”.
Voting intent: GOLD first
If there were parliamentary elections next Sunday, the ranking would look like this:
GOLD – 32%
PSD – 24%
GNP – 20%
USR – 10%
UDMR – 5%
PNRR–Pedestrians – 4%
SOS Romania – 3%
Other – 2%
More than 60% of Romanians believe that the country would be stronger after the union with the Republic of Moldova sounding
“The results indicate a relatively stable competition between the main parties, with AUR in the leading position and with a clear difference from the rest of the competitors“, notes the quoted source.
The research also reveals the ideological orientation of the respondents:
“The electorate defines itself as predominantly conservative. From an ideological point of view, most respondents state that they feel close to the Christian-democratic zone (29%) and the nationalist zone (24%). 16% define themselves as social democrats, 12% as liberals, and 10% are close to progressivism. The data indicate a predominantly conservative orientation of the Romanian electorate, in a context marked by economic insecurity and political instabilityă”, explain the creators of the survey.
Trust in political leaders: none exceeds 35%
No political figure exceeds the 35% threshold in the high confidence zone. The ranking is led by:
Călin Georgescu – 32%,
Nicusor Dan – 31%,
Ilie Bolojan – 25%,
George Simion – 23%.
“Traian Băsescu, Cristian Popescu Piedone and Sorin Grindeanu are grouped around the 21% threshold, while Hunor Kelemen, Diana Şoşoacă and Dominic Fritz register the highest levels of mistrust”, specify the authors of the survey.
Survey: in which countries do Romanians trust the most and who ranks last. “Only a third of the AUR electorate sympathizes with Russia”
Trust in institutions: the Church and the Army, on the first places
Regarding institutions, trust remains low for central ones, but high for traditional ones:
Church – 79%,
Army – 76%,
Police – 55%,
local authorities – 53%.
Instead:
Parliament – 24%,
Government – 26%,
Justice – 20%,
Presidency – 31%.
In political parties:
35% have little confidence,
33% have none at all,
30% have a lot or a lot of confidence.
Methodological data
The CURS survey was conducted on a sample of 1,664 respondents, adult population resident in Romania, through face-to-face interviews, at the participants’ homes. The margin of error is +/-2.4% at a 95% confidence level.
