Romania’s political tumult continues as leftist party leaves talks to form pro-European coalition

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s leftist Social Democratic Party has withdrawn from negotiations to form a pro-European coalition government, extending political turmoil that has gripped the European Union country after a top court annulled a presidential election. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the PSD, said Thursday that his party was abandoning negotiations with three traditional parties — the center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, the reformist Save Romania Union party, USR, and the small ethnic Hungarian UDMR party — after a fraught negotiation process failed. Without the PSD, the three other parties don’t have enough seats to form a majority government.