Vasile Blaga (Romanian pronunciation: [vaˈsile ˈblaɡa]; born 26 July 1956) is a Romanian centre-right politician who is currently serving as a Senator of Romania since 2024, representing Timiș County. He previously held the same position from 1996 to 2000 (representing Bihor County) and again from 2004 to 2016 (representing Bucharest). Between 2011 and 2012, he also briefly served as President of the Senate of Romania.
Between 2019 and 2024, he took a five-year break from national politics, during which he served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP).
His ministerial career includes two terms as Minister of Internal Affairs (2004–2007, 2009–2010) under Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu and Emil Boc, as well as serving as Minister of Regional Development and Public Administration (2008–2009).
In addition to his government roles, Blaga was President of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) from 2012 to 2014 and later served as Co-President of the National Liberal Party (PNL) alongside Alina Gorghiu (2014–2016) following the merger of the two parties.
Earlier in his career, he was Prefect of Bihor County (1991–1993) and a Member of the Chamber of Deputies (1990–1992).
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Political career
Born in Petrileni, Bihor County, Blaga started his political career after the fall of Communism in Romania in 1989. He was a Member of Parliament in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, representing Bihor County, between 1990 and 1991, after which he became the Prefect of Bihor, serving until 1993.