site.btaAUR Supporters Protest in Bucharest Against Austerity, Demand Early Elections

Hundreds of supporters of Romania’s far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), led by party leader George Simion, staged a protest in Bucharest on Sunday evening. The demonstration, streamed live online, opposed austerity measures and called for early parliamentary elections.

The protesters carried a large banner reading "Stop the Impoverishment of Romanians," waved Romanian flags, and chanted Simion’s name. Some tore up photographs of leaders from the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union, and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, the four parties expected to form the country’s next government.

The protest march started in front of the Romanian Parliament building and ended at Victory Square, in front of the Government headquarters.

Addressing the crowd, Simion said the protest aims to defend democracy and reject the current Government's abuses. "We want early elections, we want a return to democracy and the constitutional framework. That is why we are in the streets. That is why so many Romanians are talking about a tax strike and considering individual actions to express their lack of trust in a State that no longer belongs to the Romanian people," Simion underscored.

He also accused the Government of exerting political pressure through lawsuits and urged citizens to "refuse to support an illegitimate government."

Similar protests took place in 40 cities across the country.

The far-right opposition party AUR has refused to take part in consultations to nominate a new prime minister, initiated over the past three weeks by President Nicusor Dan at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.