site.btaTwo Protests in Bucharest Draw Thousands over Vexler Law and Government Austerity Measures

Two protests in Bucharest gathered thousands of people on Thursday evening. One march moved from University Square to Victoriei Square, while the other was held in front of the Government building. Demonstrators waved Romanian flags and chanted slogans such as “National unity,” “Freedom,” “Down with the Government,” “Calin Georgescu president,” “Bring back the second round of the elections,” and “Thieves,” a BTA reporter at the scene said. The first protest opposed the Vexler Law, while the second targeted austerity measures imposed by the Government. 

The protest against the Vexler Law was organized by MEP Claudiu Tarziu, founder of the new Conservative Action (ACT) party. Days before the event, Tarziu said that “the sole theme of the demonstration is public outrage over the consequences of the promulgation of the Vexler Law, which seeks to erase heroes, geniuses and saints of the Romanian nation from collective memory".

Romanian media recalled that the law was initiated by MP Silviu Vexler, who is also head of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania, and that President Nicusor Dan had also expressed reservations about the normative act. The law bans fascist, legionary, racist and xenophobic organizations, symbols and actions, as well as the promotion of the cult of individuals guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

Speaking from the podium during the protest, Tarziu said: “Today we gathered first and foremost to stop the application of the law – the most serious attack in the last 35 years against the Romanian people. We did not come here to hold a political or election rally; we wanted a civic protest, which is why, as you can see, party symbols are absent. This law is not a cause, but an effect. An effect of the absence of the state”. He added that the adoption of the law had been made possible by the fact that Romania no longer has a state that expresses the will of the Romanian people, pointing to the parliamentary majority that adopted it – the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania.

His speech was met with boos and chants of “traitors.” Tarziu insisted that the Vexler Law must be repealed.

“We are many and through pressure – in Parliament, on the streets and through legislation – we will force them to do what must be done. We also want explanations about how the presidential elections in 2024 were taken away from us, forcibly and illegally. We want the truth to be told,” the MEP said.

Despite earlier statements that the protest was focused on the Vexler Law, Tarziu also touched on other issues related to Romania’s domestic and foreign policy.

“I know other problems concern you as well – tax after tax, massively increased fees, frozen wages, frozen pensions, imposed by the governments that ruled over the past five years. They robbed us and reduced us to poverty,” he said, adding that farmers opposing Mercosur and workers struggling to put food on the table were also among the protesters.

“Our state has been replaced by a system of national plunder, run by local and international gangs, a transnational mafia that turned Romania into a resource extraction ground – natural and human alike,” Tarziu said.

The protest was also backed by supporters of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians and its leader George Simion, who also addressed the protesters. “We protest and chant against those who are trying to restore dictatorship and steal our rights, against those who annulled the elections, against those who trample on the opposition represented by the Romanian people,” Simion said. He called on the Federation of Jewish Communities and all minorities in Romania “to distance themselves from the gesture made by Silviu Vexler”.

“I demand respect for democracy in Romania and a return to the second round of the elections. I demand an end to the taxes and duties that bring our people to their knees every day,” Simion added.

Together with journalist Anca Alexandrescu, a former candidate for mayor of Bucharest, and a large group of demonstrators, Simion headed toward Victoria Square. The group carried a large white banner reading “Let Eminescu judge us.” 

The second protest gathered more than 10,000 people in front of the Government building chanting against austerity measures imposed by Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan and President Nicusor Dan.

Tarziu did not join the second protest. Together with another group of demonstrators, he went to the Romanian Athenaeum, where he laid flowers at the monument of Mihai Eminescu, Romania’s most famous and beloved poet. Romania marks the Day of National Culture on Thursday, honouring Eminescu.