Early life and career Orban was born in the
Transylvanian city of
Brașov to an
ethnic Hungarian father and an
ethnic Romanian mother. Orban completed secondary studies at the city's
Andrei Șaguna High School in 1982. He then studied industrial machinery design technology at the
University of Brașov, graduating in 1988. In 1993, he completed post-graduate studies in political science at the
National School of Administration and Political Science of Bucharest. where he himself won a seat in a Bucharest constituency. While minister, he also ran for mayor of Bucharest as part of the
2008 local elections, losing in the first round by finishing in fourth place with 11.4% of the vote. In March 2009, concurrent with his ally
Crin Antonescu's ascent to the PNL presidency and the sidelining of the Tăriceanu faction, Orban became the party's vice president. He ran for the party presidency in December 2014 and was defeated by
Alina Gorghiu on a 47–28 vote. Orban was a candidate in the
June 2016 race for mayor of Bucharest, but two months before the election, withdrew from the race as well as from his PNL and Chamber posts after being placed under investigation by the
National Anticorruption Directorate. He was not a candidate in the
2016 parliamentary election. In January 2017, the
High Court of Cassation and Justice acquitted him on a charge of influence peddling. The following month, he announced his candidacy for the PNL leadership; he went on to defeat
Cristian Bușoi by a 78–21 margin.
Prime minister and split from PNL on 29 July 2020 In October 2019, after the fall of
Viorica Dăncilă's government, President
Klaus Iohannis designated Orban as
prime minister. His cabinet received parliamentary approval the following month, with 240 lawmakers voting in favor, seven more than required. His government was ousted via a
no-confidence motion in February 2020, with 261 lawmakers voting in favor. The following month, a new Orban-led cabinet received parliamentary approval on a 286–23 vote. Most PNL representatives, including Orban himself, were absent due to suspected exposure to
COVID-19. The
Social Democrats (PSD) voted in favor of the cabinet, given
the emergency circumstances, while pledging concerted opposition.
PRO Romania voted against. Orban resigned in December, following the PNL's poor performance at the
parliamentary election. At the same time, Orban himself won a new term in the Chamber. Once the new parliament convened, he was elected
its president, defeating his PSD rival by a vote of 179–110. In 2021, Orban ran for a new term as PNL president. During the campaign, he staked out a
liberal conservative position, emphasizing a commitment to traditional values and rejecting what he termed "
neo-Marxist progressivism". In September, during a party congress, Orban was defeated by
Florin Cîțu on a 2,878–1,898 vote, or around 60%-40%. Shortly thereafter, he submitted his resignation as Chamber president to Cîțu. The latter not having taken any action by mid-October, Orban quit by notifying the Chamber secretariat himself. In November, the PNL leadership expelled Orban from the party. The following month, he founded a new
centre-right party,
Force of the Right (FD). In October 2025, Orban became domestic political advisor to President
Nicușor Dan, who fired him a month later. This occurred after Orban criticized the
Save Romania Union and its use of Dan’s image during the campaign of
Cătălin Drulă for mayor of Bucharest. ==Controversies==