Intro

If you’ve been checking any Romanian media outlet for the past months, you will definitely notice the name Ilie Bolojan thrown around a lot. The Prime Minister has recently become a hugely polarizing figure since taking office, and has been the target of many attacks by far-right groups AUR, POT and SOS Romania.

Last week, on the 5th of May, he was ousted by the Parliament through a no-confidence vote. His time as Prime Minister had come to an end, after 10 months of unstable governing, regular disputes over laws with coalition members and austerity measures that never appealed to the general population.

But how did we get here? How did we go from a stable, pro-European reformist government that was promised at the beginning of this summer into whatever this is?

Well, you’re about to find out.

The Coalition

May 26, Nicușor Dan is sworn in as President of Romania, and one of the first things he said about the government was that he would name Bolojan as Prime Minister. As the President of the Senate at that time, he was sought by almost every pro-European presidential candidate in order to aid in the reduction of the deficit, which was around 8.4% of the GDP, the biggest one in the EU by far.

After a month of negotiations with political parties, they had reached a conclusion: they must join forces if they are to solve the problems of the deficit, inflation and European grants such as PNRR and SAFE (we talked about those in this article). Together, the Social Democrats, Liberals, the Save Romania Union (USR) and the Hungarian Democratic Union (UDMR) announced they would be governing as a coalition, this way reaching a majority of 293 seats in Parliament, making it easy to pass reforms if every party gave their acceptance.

The first package of reforms went well internally: VAT rose to 21%, pensions and wages were frozen and unjustified public bonuses were cut. However, they proved to be a disaster for the common man. Rather than advancing the reforms through a vote, Bolojan opted to assume responsibility, which meant they would automatically pass, but at the risk of a no-confidence vote.

As expected, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) filed a motion of censure against the Bolojan cabinet on July 10, 2025, though it failed to garner a majority.

Bolojan would live to reform another day, but soon enough his situation would get much messier.

Stalled Reforms & Public Outrage

As the first few changes were adopted, their effects, while existent, were not tangible, as the Romanian public wanted instant solutions with minimal sacrifices. Prices continued to rise as wages and pensions stagnated, the crisis hitting the entrepreneurial sector particularly hard, which Bolojan himself was trying to restart. Furthermore, unpopular but necessary moves were being ignored and put on the backburner, such as the highly requested Justice Reform regarding the early retirement age of those in the judiciary.

In parallel, public sector workers also began organizing protests, especially in education, where union leaders but also ordinary teachers and students were arguing that the austerity measures were being applied unevenly. While the measures were justified from an economic perspective, many Romanians perceived them as rushed and disconnected from social realities. At the same time, communication from the government was often seen as rigid and lacking empathy. Bolojan’s image of an intransigent reformer shifted toward that of an out-of-touch leader. This perception was heavily amplified by opposition parties and media outlets, turning economic dissatisfaction into political anger, and someone was ready to profit off of this uncertainty.

Cracks Forming

Well before the end of 2025, tensions within the coalition became public. The Social Democrats began distancing themselves from the government’s most unpopular measures through PR stunts, creating instability within the coalition.

Rumors of a potential PSD withdrawal from said coalition started circulating, being fueled by the increasingly demagogic speeches of newly-elected Social Democrat leader Sorin Grindeanu, who tried to appeal to the dissatisfied populace in order to discredit the Prime Minister. This conflict is said to have started mainly from the Bolojan’s pushes to reduce state expenses, a move which was disapproved strongly by Grindeanu for unknown, yet speculated, reasons, which we will not go into.

Concretely, the coalition, once praised for its broad pro-European unity, was now struggling to maintain even basic coherence, and Grindeanu had prepared something to regain the upper hand in government.

On April 20, he called the entire party to vote on whether or not to continue supporting PM Bolojan and the current Liberal-USR-UDMR government. In an overwhelming majority,

Coup De Grâce

The breaking point came when political interests aligned against the Prime Minister. In a surprising move, the Social Democrats joined forces with AUR to support a new vote of no confidence. Despite ideological differences, both sides found common ground in opposing Bolojan’s leadership.

The campaign leading up to the vote was marked by intense criticism. Bolojan was accused of imposing austerity without sufficient consultation, weakening social protections, and failing to maintain political stability. His supporters, on the other hand, argued that he was being punished for attempting necessary but unpopular reforms.

When the vote finally took place, the result reflected months of accumulated tension.

The motion passed, bringing an end to Bolojan’s mandate after just ten months in office. What had started as a reform-driven government backed by a strong parliamentary majority collapsed under the weight of its own internal contradictions.

However, this is not the end for Ilie Bolojan. In what political analysts called a stroke of genius, he mentioned gathering support from a large part of Romanian society through his so-called sacrifice term. Through oratoric mastery he managed to shift the perspectives of many, his name being passed around as a potential new leader for a reunited reformist bloc within Romania.

And what happens now?

Conclusion - What To Expect

After ousting Bolojan, the Social Democrats now want to get back in government and are looking for other parties to make up a majority with. Meanwhile, the Liberals and USR have already stated that they will not ally with PSD anymore and are looking to be in the opposition for the time being.

AUR is the party that seems the most ready for government, but they can’t do it alone since they don’t have enough seats in Parliament. The only solution for that would be to ally with the Social Democrats, though its leader George Simion prefers to propose their own Prime Minister. It’s also expected that President Nicușor Dan will simply refuse to certify a far-right extremist party for government.

In short, the political situation has now turned into a waiting game. The President has announced he will start preliminary informal negotiations with each party, guaranteeing that Romania has a stable executive branch and the Western direction is not affected.

Now we would like to hear your thoughts, so let us know what you think of these events, maybe try to predict what will happen next if you’re certain. For now, enjoy the calm, because the storm is yet to come.

You’re reading Inside Romania, and this is the end of this week’s article. If you want to read next week’s article when it releases, be sure to subscribe, your support would mean a lot.

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Edited by Surdu Răzvan

Written by Alexa Ștefan & Surdu Răzvan

Intro - How Come?

As the clock struck midnight this New Year’s Eve, Romania celebrated another year of resilience, having repealed the far-right in the presidential elections (“The Showdown For Democracy”), despite the disastrous economic situation.

However, looking around at their neighbor, they discovered they were celebrating more than usual.

Bulgaria, of course, had every right to be pleased with themselves, as they had just entered the exclusive Eurozone union, ditching the national Lev and adopting the Euro.

If you are from either of these two countries or have read our article “The Road To 2007” you would know that Bulgaria and Romania entered the European Union at the same time.

So, why does one move toward European unity and the other stays in place?

In this article, we will document the failed efforts made for Romanian Eurozone integration, identify the root cause for them, analyze the impact it would have, and in the end, settle on whether or not the country should work towards it.

You are reading Inside Romania, and this is the final article in the 4-parter series EUROmania that aims to educate you about Romania’s past, present and future with the European Union.

A Bad Calendar

Romania’s path towards adopting the Euro has been viewed objectively as a series of shifting timelines rather than constant progress. Over the past two decades, several deadlines for when it would enter: from 2011 to 2019, and more recently the 2024-2026 window. However, due to political crises and simply the inefficiency of reforms, plans have been put on the backburner.

Because of this, while the Euro remained a strategic objective in theory, the pattern of missed targets has affected Romania’s credibility within groups of investors.

By creating a pattern, past administrations have shown the world that, strategically, the country is not prepared for the next level of integration, raising concerns about Romania’s reliability within the EU framework, instead of strengthening existing bonds within the Union.

But is all hope lost?

Certainly not. More recently, President Nicușor Dan has mentioned that a realistic timeline would include Eurozone integration by 2030. The factors taken into account were the need for structural reform and fiscal stability, since joining requires controlling inflation, maintaining a stable exchange rate, reducing budget deficits, and ensuring manageable public debt levels.

Most importantly, a 2030 deadline also accounts for unpredictable economic or political issues that can be resolved in due time, without a major impact on the course the country is looking to take with such a massive commitment.

So, what are the issues we are facing in this context?

The Diagnosis

To begin, Romania faces multiple challenges in joining the Eurozone, primarily because the Leu does not meet the necessary economic convergence rate established by the Maastricht Treaty, which was designed to further accelerate European integration through introducing a single currency throughout the union.

Basically, the convergence criteria consists of roughly 4-5 main criterias: Price Stability, Sound Public Finances, Sustainable Public Debt, Exchange Rate Stability and Long-Term Interest Rates.

One of the primary reasons why Romania can’t enter the Eurozone is due to a high budget deficit well above the 3% of the GDP limit set by the treaty. Moreover, increasingly high energy prices, strong consumption and structural inefficiencies in the economy are the main source of higher inflation than most EU members, especially in recent years. Another issue is also the high interest rates in Romania as many investors expect more money than they lend due to the fear that deficits are large and economic stability is perceived as being weaker.

As a result of these issues, Romania has not yet entered the European Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II), which is a preparatory stage that assists members in the switch to the Euro, thus monitoring the countries to make sure that the national currency is stable against the Euro for another 2 years.

Ultimately, Romania cannot join the Eurozone due to the fact that it fails to meet key criteria in the Maastricht Treaty, mainly because of the large deficit, high inflation and unstable economy, thus resulting in the nation being outside of ERM II, the required step before adopting the Euro.

Would It Work?

Supposing we ignore all the economic problems Romania currently faces and it manages to switch to Euro, what would be the obtained benefits?

First of all, the currency risk would start to lower and stabilize, thus making it more attractive for companies and foreign industries to invest in emerging businesses. In the long run, loans may become cheaper since interest rates also start decreasing alongside lessening loans taken by the government and people.

Furthermore, Romania would benefit from the credibility of the European Central Bank (ECB) in case of national crises by offering support and strengthening the banking system, which is a huge advantage due to it being the central component of the Eurosystem and one of the world’s most important central banks.

However, the conversion to Euro might bring some risks or disadvantages such as the loss of money control since there is no longer a national currency and the ECB will have to make decisions for all Eurozone regarding the Euro, thus making devaluing currency harder for Romania in case of economic struggles.

Moreover, in countries like Croatia, people felt prices rose after adopting the Euro which consequently brings us to the next possible disadvantage: risk of price increases, which is not always dramatic but noticeable in everyday goods. National companies would also face stronger competition from the Eurozone on weaker sectors, giving the state less flexibility to adjust their own prices over goods.

Lastly, Romania would need to tighten its control over deficit and spendings since fiscal discipline becomes stricter and governments would have less room for populist spending.

Conclusion - Should We?

Questions like these always have two clear cut answers, each with their perspective blocs of support: yes or no.

The sentiment from the entire continent is that the Euro is the future. With the increasing centralization of monetary and financial policy, it has definitely shown that it would be more accessible and stable for the entire EU to have one currency. Several medium-sized nations have experienced a clear economic growth since entering the Eurozone. Most notably, for Slovakia and the Baltic states, the Euro has opened doors that their national currency could have never.

On the other hand, this has its downsides: the state practically loses control over their currency, rendering it unable to play around with interest and exchange rates. One could take Poland’s or Czechia’s perspective, as they are better economies than Romania’s, but they aren’t very interested in switching to the Euro, preferring to keep their financial sovereignty.

Taking everything into account, joining the Eurozone is only beneficial if Romania enters prepared. Otherwise it could face similar problems to those seen in countries like Greece during the debt crisis.

If you were to ask our opinion on this matter, we would say that only after the economy is stabilized and the deficit reduced should Romania start to think about Eurozone integration. Long term, it would help in future economic crises and align the country even more to the EU, benefitting as much as it can from the partnership.

If you have a different opinion or want to reinforce ours, you can use the comment section to do it, but remember to keep things civil.

We’re glad you read this article all the way, this marks the end of the EUROmania series. If you wish to support Inside Romania, be sure to subscribe for more articles like this!

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Edited by Surdu Răzvan

Written by Alexa Ștefan, Hanganu David & Surdu Răzvan

Intro - The Timeline

In the last article, we posed an interesting question: “In which ways does Romania benefit the European Union?”, and we found the answers lie in its strategic and diverse geography, effective workforce and flagship companies.

This time around, however, we’ll look at European Romania from another angle. Right now, we’ve touched on the past (“The Road To 2007”) and the present (“Romania, Europe’s Ally”), so all that’s left for us to cover is the future. And that’s exactly what we’ll be doing.

This article will be answering the question of “What does the future hold for Romania as an EU member?”. You are reading Inside Romania, and this is the third part of the EUROmania series.

PNRR - Reforms Galore

Following the COVID-era shock and stagnation, Romania officially drafted the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, also known as PNRR, which consists of non-repayable grants and preferential loans meant for economic stabilization and restructuring of government systems.

The catch is that these funds are only approved following significant reforms, a task which has been difficult for the government, especially amidst a political crisis.

The plan includes reform plans for 6 main pillars: green transition, digitalization, intelligent growth, socio-territorial cohesion, healthcare and next-generation policies, totalling at a whopping 66 reforms with around €28.5 billion available for funding.

At the moment, Romania is facing a very dire situation with the project, as they have only completed a small chunk of the reforms needed to receive the full sum, instead being funded only with €10.7 billion. The government is having their backs against the wall, as the plan formally ends in August of this year, which means they only have a couple of months to pass as many reforms as possible, though it is unlikely they’ll get something major done due to the political climate.

Nevertheless, PNRR is among the most significant post-accession investment frameworks in the country’s modern history. In this sense, it functions not merely as a stimulus, but as an externally anchored modernization strategy that was meant to help Romania dig itself out of its grave, had they chosen to profit from it.

SAFE - Big Shots

Security Action for Europe, more commonly known as SAFE, is a very beneficial instrument as it provides loans of up to 150€ billion to support EU member states in increasing their defence. For Romania, this financial help provides new opportunities in military infrastructure, correspondingly in national security, thus boosting the development of mechanisms that assure production and strategic value.

SAFE assigned 16.6 billions in assets to Romania, the second-largest allocation under the program, which is usually attributed to AAA categorised states in the EU. Most of the funds go into military acquisitions of arms, support equipment and modern artillery, while the smaller part goes into the finalisation of the A7 “Moldova” Highway, respectively the A8 “Union’s” Highway, both connecting tactical points between the cities located near the Ukrainian frontier and Romanian supply stations.

Deputy Prime Minister Radu Miruță, Minister of National Defence also provided some information on this matter, thus pointing out that through SAFE, collaborations with other EU member states will be made easier as cutting-edge technologies and arms licenses will be joined into the national defence industry. As of now, 21 projects coordinated by the Ministry of National Defence are under construction, with 10 of them involving procurement with other members of the EU, the rest of them being individual to the Romanian state.

All in all, SAFE is a major opportunity for Romania to consolidate its defence and strategic industry. By critical financing and joint operations with EU states, the nation can modernise the military capacities and expand its role in regional security. Furthermore, projects like the A8 and A7 highways will also bring a great contribution to strategic mobility and long-term development.

Ukraine - Golden Opportunity

Currently, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is still going on, and at the time of writing this, it has been 4 years and 2 months of constant fighting at Romania’s border. While it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime, it still hasn’t stopped European leaders from discussing what would happen with Ukraine after the war is over. Over 15% of all housing has been destroyed by bombing, especially in the east, while thermal power, hydropower and gas production factories have been severely weakened, so much so that the total cost of rebuilding Ukraine after the war was calculated at $588 billion by the World Bank.

Where does Romania come into this?

Well, not only does the current administration regularly support Ukraine’s defence effort, but in doing so it also improves Romania’s economy. Multiple companies in construction, energy, logistics and digital services would contribute the most to the reconstruction effort, which would also help them expand and create new jobs.

In other news, Romania has positioned itself as a key logistic hub along with Poland, in order to improve the reconstruction effort should it happen in the near future.

At the end of the day, the country’s stance on Ukraine reflects solidarity, but also a strategic self-interest. Just imagine the partnerships that will be made between these two countries after Ukraine rebuilds itself.

Conclusion - Is The Future Bright?

It’s safe to say there is a positive or negative answer to this. An optimist would say: “We’re doing well, we’ll use the SAFE and PNRR funds to develop and reform the nation.”. Meanwhile, a pessimist would argue: “We’re bound to fail, the government is falling apart, we don’t have enough EU funds and we’re experiencing another crisis.”.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle, and it’s not entirely clear what the future will have in store for Romania.

In the next article, we will do our best to analyze, document and predict what would happen if Romania joins the Eurozone and adopts the Euro as a national currency.

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Edited by Surdu Răzvan

Written by Alexa Ștefan, Hanganu David & Surdu Răzvan

This is part 2 of our series EUROmania, we recommend you check out last week’s article to familiarize yourself.

EUROmania Part 1: The Road To 2007

Introduction - An Equitable Partnership

It’s a commonly known fact that in the organization that is the European Union, out of the 27 member states that range from rich to poor, strong to weak and small to big, that not every one of them can have the same amount of benefits as another.

Just as it says on the official EU website, the aim of the Union is to reduce disparities from country to country, improving cohesion. Europe was built on values of equality and equity, and that means some members get to experience financial aid or access to programs that are paid for by other member states.

Ranking as one of the largest net beneficiaries of the European Union, Romania has been helped in a lot of ways to become the country it is today. However, if the article was about the numerous ways the country has been improved by the EU, it would be a boring read. This is why we’re switching it up.

Therefore, let’s ask the question: “What does Romania do for the European Union?”.

I. An Outstanding Location

Since the Middle Ages, the geographic position of the region has tremendously helped Romania against enemy invasions, and even now it’s paying dividends. In the South and the West, they have their EU allies, but in the North and East, they border Moldova and Ukraine, two nations which are caught between the Union and Russian influence, one even fighting a war against it right now.

What this means is that through partnerships, agreements and diplomacy, Romania can aid the process of integration into Europe, which is exactly what it’s doing with Moldova.

Another huge factor that makes the positioning of Romania so beneficial for the EU is sea access. Other than the fact that they hold the biggest share of the river Danube, at over 1,000 kilometers, it all flows right in the Black Sea, where Romania has a coastline spanning 225 kilometers. Along with Bulgaria, they make up 10% of all coastline length and 15% of total economic area. This enables the EU to trade with littoral partners such as Turkey, Ukraine, Armenia & Georgia.

II. Lending A Hand

The 2007 accession to the EU meant that Romanians had their horizons widely opened to leave and work somewhere else. While this feels like a benefit only for the country, it really is more of a double-edged sword: some people work abroad and send money back home, reinforcing the economy, while others just exit the country as soon as possible and establish themselves and their families in countries like Italy, Spain or Germany, effectively cutting themselves off from their native lands.

But you know who wins nonetheless? The EU. Now, almost 200,000 Romanians leave their country every single year, and almost all of them go on to work and settle in another member state.

Right now, the country is somewhat stabilizing on this topic. Compared to the 550,000 people who left the country as soon as they were part of the EU, a reduction to 180 to 200 thousand emigrations per year isn’t as bad a figure.

III. Household Names

As soon as Romania entered the EU, so did 20 million people become consumers in the European market. That meant that they weren’t confined to what they could find generally in the country, but rather they could buy from their European partners.

On the other hand, Romanian companies faced some competition, and they had to keep up with it or they’d get left behind and replaced. Through the hundreds of companies either bought by foreign investors or bankrupted due to not being able to compete, some made it out and managed to become known in the entire European world.

These include Dacia, with 8 million cars sold outside home borders in the last 20 years, BitDefender, a cybersecurity company founded by a Romanian that is frequently regarded as the best on the market for years, UiPath, a company which last year had a revenue of 1.43 billion dollars and became one of the largest US Software IPOs.

Conclusion - Is It Enough?

We’ve decided to keep this article shorter and simpler than our usual ones, not only because it would be easier to understand in this format, but also to paint a realistic picture: Romania isn’t a huge contributor to the EU. In fact, as we said in the beginning of the article, it’s actually the complete opposite.

When the Union was thinking about expanding eastward in post-communist countries, it also included Romania, and it certainly wasn’t a mistake. For the first time in history, smaller countries weren’t occupied by oppressive regimes that undermined national sovereignty, rather a hand was stretched out to these countries to form a partnership. A union.

At the end of the day, the growth that the country had after being included in the European Union exceeded anyone’s expectations. Without it, we’d probably be worse off. The least we can do is support the EU and keep on growing.

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Introduction: Recently…

Recently, the continent’s sentiment about the European Union has been declining, with the rise of far-right extremist parties not only in member states, but also in the European Parliament.

Here at Inside Romania, we present the facts, and invite the reader to form its own opinion for themselves. We did this with our last 3-part article series “Romania VS Extremism” that concluded last week. This time however, we won’t focus on a single party or ideology, rather we will document the journey of 3 different presidents over almost 20 years as they work to accomplish the European Dream for their citizens.

You are reading Inside Romania, and this is part 1 of our brand new series “EUROmania”.

1990-1996: From The Ashes Of Communism

Post-revolutionary Romania is regularly described as a system where the president still behaved like an autocrat. Ion Iliescu’s FSN virtually replaced Ceaușescu’s loyalists with their own, maintaining their power while also branding themselves as saviors for taking down the communist regime.

Although the people wouldn’t yet be fully free, the markets sure were. Reforms and privatizations transformed the nation from a completely state-controlled economy into a mixed one that improved accessibility and attracted prospective investors. Even with all of this however, Romania was still a relatively poor country and would continue to be for a while.

The early beginnings of the road to EU accession began in 1993, when the Europe Association Agreement was signed, establishing a legal framework for integration. In that same year, in Copenhagen, the European Council presented the requirements for which ex-communist states in Eastern Europe must meet in order to accede to the European Union. Most notably, they were: a stable democracy, a competitive market economy and the capacity to implement European laws.

It’s safe to say there was a long way ahead, and it would have to start as fast as possible. Just not with Iliescu, as he was defeated by Emil Constantinescu of the Romanian Democratic Convention (CDR) in the presidential elections of 1996.

With a new President guiding the country, Europe became the main vision.

1996-2000: A Step In The Right Direction

Under Constantinescu and a CDR coalition government, the state pushed through rapid reforms of the economic system like price liberalization and privatizations, along with the establishing of an anti-corruption committee, signaling that corruption was a nationwide issue that needed fixing.

Externally, the President tried to align Romania more to the West, since it could impact the country’s progress in joining important organizations like the EU and also NATO. He hosted US President Bill Clinton in Bucharest in 1997, realizing a strategic partnership that showed the entire region of the Balkans the benefits of the West.

That same year, the European Commission declared its negative opinion of Romania’s accession application, due to the insufficiency of economic reforms and situation in the country. The austerity measures had failed to take into account the citizens’ needs, with inflation and unemployment piling up as cracks were beginning to form in the coalition.

Even with all of this, there would come a crucial moment that would shape Romania’s trajectory for years to come. In 1999, NATO forces unleashed an air campaign on Yugoslavia, and Constantinescu would have to choose between staying neutral or aiding the strikes. He chose the latter, and it might’ve seriously impacted how Brussels viewed Romania at that time.

After 4 years of continuous political effort, reforms, crises and crucial decisions later, Romania finally got the call at the Helsinki European Council of December 1999.

2000-2004: The Art Of Negotiating

Together with Bulgaria and other Eastern countries, Romania would start negotiations for EU accession in February 2000. That however, included a lot of work to be done. A total of 31 chapters of criteria had to be met, from justice to agriculture and environmental law.

Just as things were going steady, Constantinescu’s term would expire, and with him not running for re-election due to his failure to reform the system, the Romanian citizens would see themselves voting for Ion Iliescu for his second term as President.

Only a year later, the Commission would report remarkable progress on border controls, immigration and visa policy. However, the report couldn’t help but notice that on the judicial side, with corruption and reform, was left untouched.

This decision to not focus on corruption control would heavily restrict Romania’s road forward in their path to accession, and is part of the reason why theirs and Bulgaria’s official entry dates were scheduled for 2007, as opposed to the other nations who started negotiations at the same time and were cleared to join earlier, in 2004.

The silver lining here is that by 2003, 22 of the 31 major accession chapters had been closed. From a technical point of view, the negotiations were on schedule by October 2004. The much harsher reality was that the government would have to be forced to make the political reforms Brussels had been urging them to make since the beginning, and that wasn’t a pleasure for Prime Minister Năstase.

However, it wouldn’t matter, as his defeat in the presidential elections would mean the end of Iliescu and the Social Democrat government’s time, as a new political figure would rise, and that would be Traian Băsescu of the Democratic Party.

2004-2007: The Last Stretch

Since the moment he took office, Băsescu’s direction was clear: facilitate the 2007 EU accession and crack down on corruption through judicial reform. By 2005, the European Accession Treaty was signed by both Romania, Bulgaria and the 25 member states. The negotiations had come to an end.

However, corruption was still an issue impossible to overlook by the Commission, hence a special clause in the agreement that delayed entry by one year if unsatisfied by the end result, and made justice reforms mandatory until the deadline. This was a novelty in European politics, with Brussels signaling that it did not fully trust the government to deliver reforms on time.

Nevertheless, Băsescu and the cabinet went to work, and to work they went. Under Justice Minister Monica Macovei, massive reforms changed the judicial system.

Most notably, the National Anti-corruption Directorate was revamped and equipped with the best prosecutors who were guaranteed independence and protection from political interference. What followed was a series of rampant indictments, and funnily enough, the man who tried to do as little as he could to combat corruption during his time as Prime Minister, Adrian Năstase was sentenced to 4 years of prison in one of the most infamous cases of corruption in recent history.

As these went on, the date of September 26, 2006 came bearing the final report for the two countries. The ups, the downs, the efforts of the people before them would all lead up to this crucial moment, that decided the official date when they would accede to the Union. And the answer was “In 3 months.”.

Therefore, as the clock got closer to midnight on New Year’s Eve, Băsescu and the government rejoiced as Romania had accomplished its dream, becoming the 26th member state of the European Union.

Conclusion: Where To Now?

From an electoral autocracy fresh off of a totalitarian regime, to free markets, a stable democracy and reforms throughout every domain, Romania’s journey to European accession in 2007 represented the moment when the nation decided to lift itself off the ground and establish a modern state governing with the interests of the people in mind.

This definitely wasn’t the end, and Romania still has a way to go to improve, every country does. Their entry marked only the beginning of a new era in history: contemporary Romania, or better known, an European Romania.

In the next article of this series, we will look to answer the question “What does Romania contribute to the European Union?”. If you’re hooked by the topic, we recommend you subscribe and stick around next week!

Thank you for reading Inside Romania, and we will see you later!

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Act I - A Controversial Election

November 24, 2024. Millions of Romanians had just cast their vote for the next president of the state. At 52% turnout, it represented a slight improvement from the ones held in 2019, but still mediocre.

As voting booths closed, exit polls were released, and narratives were already being formed as to who would wind up in the second round. To nobody’s surprise, it showed Social Democrats’ Marcel Ciolacu ranking first, with an estimated 24%, and Save Romania Union’s Elena Lasconi taking second place with almost 20% of votes.

However, in third place ranked a figure that many didn’t even know at all. It was Călin Georgescu, and we certainly know more about him than we ever did because of this result.

But the story can’t end here, it needs a plot twist, right? Well, after counting the votes, Romania would get its biggest surprise of the year, as the exit polls were embarrassingly far from reality.

The real winner of the first tour, you might ask?

Călin Georgescu. The independent candidate who polled at around 5% before the vote, campaigned as the man who will bring the nation to its apex once again and promised to end the cost-of-living crisis, as well as cut funding for Ukraine. With 23% of votes, he represented the biggest upset in a Romanian election.

Until he was found guilty of foul play.

Act II - The Constitutional Game

Definitely, such a shocking result mandates some investigation by authorities. And so, they dug deeper into Georgescu’s campaign, to see exactly how he had convinced so many people to vote for him. In actuality, it was a rather simple idea: mass polarization on social media.

This is where Georgescu excelled in his campaign, as no other candidate used the internet as the main tool to promote themselves. By sharing short clips of himself, he managed to gain an audience in a pretty short time. On Tik Tok, his accounts grew to over 600,000 followers with 7.2 million likes on his posts. Now, was this organical growth? Well, some of it was, but it was later found that especially in the beginning, his posts were being pushed by bot accounts who reposted his clips, a method used especially for online scams.

However, this wasn’t the only thing wrong with Georgescu’s campaign. While some big names had thousands of euros poured into the race, Georgescu reported no contributions for his campaign. Authorities later found that certain accounts supported him through donations on Tik Tok livestreams, with as much as €1 million being raised like this. The state’s suspicion was that this was a coordinated attack on the integrity of Romanian elections by an outside force, and the general consensus was Russia, as in his speeches Georgescu confirmed his pro-Russian views.

On December 4th, the Constitutional Court reunited to discuss the validity of the elections. The verdict? No foreign intervention, which meant the second round would start on December 8th, between Călin Georgescu and Elena Lasconi.

Not if someone did something about it.

Another two days after the initial verdict by the Constitutional Court, the president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, declassified the document that described everything you’ve read in the last two paragraphs and even more to the public.

The reaction was mental, and the nation was split. It was either a way to preserve fair elections, or a last-ditch effort to block Georgescu from seriously competing for President.

Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court immediately declared the first round of elections unconstitutional, now citing foreign interference and annulling it.

Act III - The Aftermath

Internally, it was a crisis: extremist groups in Parliament were accusing the courts and the government of preventing Georgescu, the rightful winner, from advancing to the second round. Thus, the infamous slogan “Turul doi, înapoi!” (“Second round, bring it back!”) was starting to be heard in the streets.

Investigating Georgescu even more, prosecutors charged him with tampering of elections, as well as supporting fascist groups and personalities. In his interviews, he had stated that he holds high admiration for dictator Ion Antonescu, a fascist leader who was responsible for the deaths of over 250,000 Jews and Roma people during WW2, and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the leader of the legionary paramilitary organization called the Iron Guard.

This, as well as his close connection to wanted legionary mercenary leader Horațiu Potra was enough to build a solid case against Georgescu, who was placed on judiciary control and banned him from leaving the country, as well as creating new social media accounts.

The outcry for the annulment of the first round had reached far beyond Romanian borders, as it was the first time in European history that an election was canceled due to foreign intervention in the democratic process. On one side, world leaders defended the decision, like Ursula von der Leyen, who promised to investigate Tik Tok for pushing clips of Georgescu on the algorithm, while Donald Trump Jr., J. D. Vance and Elon Musk blasted the Constitutional Court for not respecting “the will of the Romanian people”.

Well, what now?

A new president would still have to be chosen, so the government officially announced the month of May as the month of election campaign, with the first round starting on May 4th.

Act IV - Rise Of An Underdog

After the crumbling of the Liberal-Social Democrat coalition, it was Crin Antonescu, a former Head of Senate and interim President, who came out of retirement to run as the establishment’s candidate.

Once Save Romania Union’s main hope, Elena Lasconi reportedly had a falling-out with the party after the annulment of the first round, with polls showing her at only 8%.

On the other side, Georgescu’s candidacy was rejected by the Constitutional Court because of last elections’ problems, with both George Simion and Victor Ponta running in his place.

However, in Bucharest, something was brewing.

The capital’s mayor, Nicușor Dan, announced his candidacy for president after multiple NGOs and personalities asked for him. Polling at 20%, he released the ”Honest Romania” program, detailing reforms, the economy, foreign policy and social issues, coming at 60 essential points. Though independent, he received support from the Save Romania Union, a party that he himself founded in 2016.

On the day of the first round, tensions were high. At the final count of votes, Simion was shown to win an astonishing 41%, while Nicușor’s 21% barely managed to separate him from Antonescu, who had 20% of votes.

The final was set: Nicușor Dan versus George Simion, pro-Europeanism versus pro-Russianism, the center versus the far-right.

A last showdown for democracy.

Act V - Democracy, Protected?

The lead up to the most anticipated event of the year in Romanian politics was nothing short of controversy. In the two weeks that were before the second round, multiple debates were scheduled between the two candidates. However, they met in only one of them. Intense battles were being fought every day on the internet between supporters, who had been divided into two very distinct camps.

Unlike Nicușor, who attended every debate as per schedule and answered questions regarding his campaign, Simion decided to abandon them after his unfavorable result in his first debate, choosing to fly to different countries to garner support in the diaspora, gain endorsements from foreign politicians and badmouth his countercandidate.

The two attitudes really showed the contrast between who they were as candidates, and when voting closed, it would show whose strategy worked better.

Exit polls were inconclusive, as they were made without taking the diaspora into consideration. However, it showed Nicușor narrowly beating Simion with 54% to 45%.

What followed was millions of people staying up late to watch the votes being counted in real time, and exactly at midnight, on the 19th of May, NIcușor Dan was officially elected the 7th President of Romania.

Despite Simion later disputing the result, it was certified by the Constitutional Court, and Nicușor took his oath a week later, on the 26th of May.

A Saga Finale

Now that we are at the end, we would like to hear your thoughts. Was the first round rightfully annulled in 2024? Should Călin Georgescu have deserved to become president, or did the state install Nicușor Dan as President to protect their interests?

We await discussion in the comment section.

This marks the end of our walkthrough of Romanian extremist political history, from its first appearance right after the 1989 Revolution and Vadim Tudor’s PRM, to the revival of the far-right sentiment in time for the pandemic, which helped boost George Simion’s AUR to the top of Parliament. And again, the extremists will still have to wait until they are in power. Maybe one day they will be, and that will be an interesting day.

Thank you for your time and attention, subscribe to support Inside Romania!

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In times of uncertainty, voters seem to look for political alternatives rather than trusting their own government. This pattern is not unique only to Romania, as in the wider world and especially Europe, the record-low public opinion for traditional parties and critical economic situations fuel the radicalisation of voters.

Romania, despite its relatively new democratic post-revolutionary system, has not been immune to this phenomenon.

Our last article covered one of the so-called “fathers” of Romanian far-right politics, Vadim Tudor and his numerous attempts at gaining power in the state in the ‘90s and 2000s. However, he wouldn’t be able to capitalize on the success his party had, and by 2015, the Greater Romania Party faded into irrelevance as Vadim passed away.

Just a few years later though, younger voters and members of the diaspora found themselves increasingly disconnected from mainstream political institutions and parties. Protests, political crises and frequent government changes created the feeling that the system itself was failing, and thus The Alliance for Union of Romanians (AUR) was born from Vadim Tudor’s ashes.

So how did the party rise so quickly and gain traction so easily? Why didn’t extremism in Romania end with Vadim Tudor’s death?

To understand the ascension of AUR, we must look beyond election results and campaign slogans. We must examine the political climate that allowed it to grow, the strategies that propelled it into the spotlight, and the deeper currents shaping Romanian society today.

This is the story of how AUR went from the political fringe to one of the most influential forces in modern Romanian politics.

A Man with an Idea

Every political figure has a beginning, and the story of George Simion is no exception. To understand the rise of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), we must first understand the environment that shaped the man who would eventually lead it.

George-Nicolae Simion was born in a modest city in Eastern Romania called Focșani, and like many children, he grew up in a society undergoing rapid transformation due to Romania’s attempt to rebuild its political institutions, transition to a market economy, and redefine its place on the continent. However, frustrating instances of corruption around that period managed to sculpt George Simion’s political view on the post-communist transitional government. Moving to Bucharest to attend the prestigious “Gheorghe Lazăr” National College, he later studied Business Administration at the University of Bucharest where his national pride and love for Romanian history began to stand out. In particular, he expressed his enthusiasm for the relationship between Romania and neighbouring Moldova and the unionist movement between the two countries.

Before entering Romanian politics, Simion became primarily known as a street activist and in the late 2010s, he organized and participated in demonstrations advocating for unification with Moldova, which also led him to creating the civic platform Action 2012, a movement dedicated exactly for that.

While these initiatives initially appeared as nationalist activism rather than party politics, they helped Simion build something crucial at that time: a network of supporters and a recognizable public image. It also brought controversy as he was banned from entering Moldova for several years, accusing him of political agitation and threats to national stability.

By the late 2010s, Romania’s political climate had become increasingly polarized. And that was when George Simion saw his opportunity.

He co-founded AUR in 2019, a party that combined national conservatism, anti-establishment rhetoric, religious traditionalism, and strong nationalist messaging. While the party initially received little attention from major media outlets, it quickly gained traction online and among segments of the Romanian diaspora.

The party entered the political scene promising to challenge the establishment, defend national identity, and restore what it described as Romania’s “sovereignty and dignity”.

Its creation couldn’t have happened at a better time, as in the following months, the world would begin to experience a number of events that inflicted a global crisis and put tons of pressure on the governing political parties, also known as the COVID-19 pandemic.

2020 - The Surprise Of The Year

The pandemic managed to boost the freshly-created party’s popularity primarily due to the Anti-Vaccine campaign that was happening in Romania as well. Leading the Anti-Vaxx wave, AUR officials began to make various statements regarding the true nature of the COVID-19 vaccines, even going as far as to say that they contain microchips which take control of the patient’s mind. To capitalize on this matter, the party started protests that demanded an end to “mandatory” vaccination. At the end of 2021, AUR managed to organise a protest of 15,000–20,000 people to challenge Coronavirus restrictions in Bucharest, which managed to draw international media scrutiny towards the party. This newfound attention prompted a rise in supporters, adding to the ever-growing radicalisation movement in Romania, but also the rise of political figures who condemned AUR’s actions, accusing them of spreading misinformation and putting the citizens’ safety in danger.

During the legislative elections of 2020, AUR managed to gather a significant number of votes, being labeled as “surprising” it managed to gain popularity on the internet with the party coming in first place in the Italian diaspora.. Recorder, a Romanian news platform, also added that George Simion has extended his campaign to rural areas which weren’t as technologically advanced as the cities, spreading populist and nationalist messages throughout the country.

At that time, leader George Simion also officially announced that his party would adhere to the European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR) in the European Parliament after a visit to Warsaw, where he met with officials of the Polish nationalist party Law And Justice (PiS). He also launched a party affiliate in the Republic of Moldova, electing Vlad Bilețchi, a renowned Moldovan unionist, as president of the party, introducing them into the snap election.

In 2023, at an AUR press conference, the daughter of Corneliu Vadim Tudor, alongside many other politicians announced that they will join George Simion’s party, providing new forces in the fight to take power in Parliament.

The Architects of Modern Extremism

Due to the fact that there was a surge in AUR’s support by the people, George Simion also decided that in order to maintain the party’s popularity they needed to start a campaign in the European Parliamentary Election of 2024 and expand the number of seats held.

Around that same period, another extremist party began to rise.

Diana Șoșoacă is the actual president of S.O.S România (SOS) party, a far-right, populist and irredentist party in Romania. She became president a year after she joined, after breaking away from AUR due to indiscipline. She also began a campaign in the European Parliamentary Election, while publicly shaming George Simion and his party. Moreover, while both were sharing the same right-wing, populist and unionist values, they still wouldn’t collaborate because of the history of both of the leaders.

In its 5 years of existence, AUR has grown from a small party into the pioneer of modern far-right extremism in Romania. As of 2024, it has 89 seats in Parliament, making it the second biggest political party in the country. Some call this a success story and a wake up call for mainstream parties, while others claim propaganda and populism will wreck the nation.

With the next article, we will end the trilogy that is “Romania VS Extremism” and come to a final conclusion, whether or not Romania managed to fend off extremist parties in 3 different decades.

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Why is it that everywhere we look, we find some sort of extremist ideology?

Since the First World War, authoritarian doctrines have plagued countries for years. Romania, for example, had been under Communist rule for 42 years, democracy being restored after a bloody revolution (“The Christmas That Liberated A Nation”).

The year was 1990, and while Romania was “liberated” under basic terms, its position was much more complicated. The interim government known as CFSN had a lot of former Romanian Communist Party members, who didn’t necessarily have the best interest of the nation in mind.

That’s why mass protests started that same year, and FSN responded with force. These events are now etched in history as the first three of the brutal Mineriads (“When A Revolution Turns Against Its People”).

This represented the beginning of recent Romanian history, full of polarizing personalities and scandals, but also reforms and progress.

If we look at the state of the world right now, we’ll see that there is almost a global inclination to the far-right, and Romania is not an exception. The extremist sentiment is reaching an all-time high in the country, reaching its second peak in recent history and continuing to grow.

But wait, “second” peak? Since when was Romania far-right?

It all started with a magazine.

Buckle up and sit tight, because you are about to dive head-first into the story about the father of political extremism in Romania, Vadim Tudor, in the first article of a three-part analysis on far-right movements in Romania, titled “Romania VS Extremism”.

And now, meet Vadim Tudor, also known as “The Tribune”.

1991 - “Greater Romania”

After the fall of the Iron Curtain in Romania, the free citizens were hastily rallied by the revolutionary government under Ion Iliescu, a former member of the Romanian Communist Party. The only problem with doing so is that there will always be people who don’t follow the bandwagon. That’s how the opposition was created: the National Liberal Party and the National Christian Democrat Peasants’ Party were brought back from censorship, representing the “historical” parties.

Our protagonist? He had other ideas.

In June 1990, known poet, publicist and philosopher Corneliu Vadim Tudor and his mentor Eugen Barbu would launch the “Greater Romania” magazine, a weekly publication filled with nationalist literature, some of which was heavily censored in the prior communist era.

Seeing success, his ambition would lead him to form the Greater Romania Party (PRM). While it was seemingly registered as a “centre-left political party”, it would quickly be known that it was no more than a platform for radical, racist politicians. However, this was no surprise coming from Vadim. Remember the “Greater Romania” magazine? It was no more than a tool to spread extremist ideas through to readers, going as far as to militate for the extermination of Roma people, Jews and Hungarians.

Despite all this, you can’t say he was alone on his mission. Through his work, he managed to reach a large number of citizens who were feeling left out by the administration of that time. For them, the symbol of a Greater Romania meant their voices could finally be heard.

So they voted for PRM in the 1992 parliamentary elections, and the party made its way into the Romanian Parliament.

Furthermore, the party also entered the government through an unofficial alliance during this period. Nicknamed “The Red Quadrilateral” by news outlets of that time, it was a coalition between the Party of Romanian Social Democrats (PDSR, later on PSD), The United Nation of Romania Party (PUNR), the Socialist Party of Labour (PSM) and PRM (Vadim’s party). Ideologically speaking, this alliance made no sense. Two left-leaning parties and two far-right ones would be chaos, if not for their common social characteristic: authority.

The alliance would continue until 1995, when PRM would formally distance themselves from the government, but would still end up supporting it.

The political situation for Romania in the 90’s was definitely a mess, hence these parties with over-the-top ideologies like PRM, polarizing figures like Vadim and unusual alliances like the Red Quadrilateral. This section only served as the beginning to a more twisted recollection of events that would mark Romania for years to come.

1999 - The Fifth Mineriad

For those who don’t know, the Mineriads resembled raids from the Jiu Valley miners to Bucharest where they would either beat up protesters, vandalize political party buildings or serve whoever they were loyal to and whoever promised them benefits. Only this time they acted against the state.

It all started from Miron Cozma, the leader of the Jiu Valley Miners Union and vice-president of PRM. He, along with the miners who followed him, announced that they would be going on strike due to the failed salary negotiations with the state administration the month before. That move never solved anything, so Cozma rallied his men and embarked on the road to Bucharest.

70 buses and 200 cars loaded up with angry miners were heading towards the capital, and the government was shaken. Train tracks were frozen, and gendarmes occupied the nearest highway. The conflict reached its tipping point with the Battle of Costesti, which took 3 hours and ended up being a decisive victory for Cozma’s miners. 1500 policemen and gendarmes were outnumbered 10-to-1 in the Valcea commune of Costesti, where they took the prefect hostage as well. Chants began to erupt: “Cozma, Cozma!” or “Let the miners come!”.

But also, they were heard shouting another man’s name: “Vadim, Vadim!”.

Waiting for them in Bucharest was none other than Vadim Tudor, who saw the march to the capital as an opening to launch a coup d’etat and take power into his own hands. He was virtually always on call with Cozma and other PRM representatives, trying to set up the revolution, even going as far as to contact the Chinese Communist Party and Russia to gain their support if he were to come to power. Iliescu’s new party PDSR also had the same sentiment about the Mineriad, but wasn’t directly implicated in the rebellion.

Seeing the danger of a possible civil war, Prime Minister Radu Vasile (PNȚ–CD) took matters into his own hands and organized a discussion with Cozma in front of the Cozia Monastery. It was a gamble, the miners could have simply ignored his call and continued on their march. However, Cozma didn’t desire a conflict, so he accepted the meeting, and thus the Peace of Cozia was signed. It honored the miners’ claims, as well as granting immunity for Cozma and his colleagues.

Next thing you know, the miners packed their bags and went right back to the Jiu Valley, while the government was relieved to have stopped a possible revolution.

Vadim would fail to overturn the state, but his ambition didn’t stop there.

2000 - Almost President

His presidential candidacy was expected by the Romanian people, as he also ran for presidency earlier in 1996 when The Red Quadrilateral split happened. Yet, in the 2000 Presidential Elections Vadim Tudor managed to reach the second round, where he held 28% of the votes. That also wasn’t his only success. His party won 94 new seats in the Chamber of Deputies and Senate, bringing their total to 121 seats in Parliament, officially making PRM the second-largest political party in Romania.

These results proved that there were a lot of people who were against the traditional style of politics and instead trusting the extremist agenda, believing that maybe they would represent the salvation for the country.

Even with all of this support behind him, Vadim failed to capitalize and win the presidency. The second round saw him gain only 33.17% of the votes, losing to Ion Iliescu, who won his third term as President of Romania.

If we take a look at the electoral map, we can observe that Vadim Tudor gained popularity in the region of Transylvania. This may be due to the presence of a Hungarian minority in Inner Transylvania, which could have transformed into ethnic tensions that were manipulated by Vadim to win votes. Other factors include: economic frustration in industrial areas, the center-right’s losing credibility and strong campaign organization.

Regardless of how close it was, a loss is a loss. But other opportunities will arise for Vadim to spread his extremist views, maybe this time on the entire continent.

2007 - Into The European Parliament

Romania’s entry in the European Union meant that political parties were now open to collaboration. In the Europarliamentary elections, PRM won 5 seats in the European Parliament. After careful negotiations with the National Front party (France), PRM decided to join the newly-formed Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty group. Composed of 23 members from different far-right parties, it was formally recognized on the 15th of January 2007 by the President of the European Parliament at that time, Josep Borrell.

However, it wouldn’t take long for there to appear complications, and soon the 5 Romanian members decided to leave the group only 10 months in due to Alessandra’s Mussolini’s (Benito Mussolini’s granddaughter) comments regarding the expulsion of Romanian criminals from Italy.

After the group dissolved in the same year, the PRM MEPs became Non-Inscrits (NI) in the European Parliament, meaning they would have less influence and speaking opportunities. In the 2009 European Elections, PRM won 3 seats, which meant that PRM leader Vadim Tudor, businessman-turned-politician Gigi Becali and medical doctor Claudiu Ciprian Tanasescu would pack their bags and leave for Brussels. However, in only nine months, they attended less than half of the meetings in the European Parliament, as a result placing Romania at the bottom of represented nations in the EU.

And at the meetings they actually attended, they brought the energy that made them famous in the country: Becali announced that he would be bringing in Easter eggs and a live lamb at a meeting in Brussels due to the date corresponding with the second day of Orthodox Easter, while Vadim would go ahead and deny a Holocaust ever happening in Romania on national television.

PRM’s journey into the European Parliament came to an end after their 2009-2013 term, the party slowly fading into irrelevancy in the early 2010’s.

But one event truly marked the end for the Greater Romania Party.

2015 - Vadim’s Death & The Aftermath

Corneliu Vadim Tudor unexpectedly died in 2015 due to myocardial infarction, leaving an immense gap in the power vacuum of the party.

Consequently, Emil Străinu took the position as leader of the party, but was later replaced by Victor Iovici, who has kept the position to this day. Currently, the party has renounced their extremist ideology, the new leader expressing that they are now a “centrist party, with a patriotic orientation”.

While some people mourned his death, a lot of people were just glad they wouldn’t have to deal with him anymore. Through time, he re-became a popular figure in Romania through memes on the internet and comedy specials on television, turning his absurd quotes and moments into entertainment.

As for his family, his oldest daughter, Lidia Vadim-Tudor, joined another extremist right-wing party known as The Alliance for The Union of Romanians (AUR) in 2024, thus carrying his legacy with her to this day.

Conclusion

While I don’t condone anything he did, I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed with his way of rallying people, and it reminded me of Donald Trump’s polarizing MAGA rallies. The similarities are definitely there, they are both charismatic populist leaders who never care about making people look bad, spew racist remarks and run under an ultranationalist objective.

Vadim taught the Romanian people an important lesson: if you trust in extremism, it means you support ideology, not policies and seeing your country embarrassed in the face of the whole world. What we as citizens must realize is that personalities like these will promise the world, but fail to actually bring any real benefits if elected.

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The revolution from 1989, known as the bloodiest overthrowing of a communist government in the Eastern Bloc may have ended in December, but if there’s anything you need to know about totalitarian regimes, it’s that you don’t simply get rid of them by cutting whoever’s head is at the top. Ceaușescu’s death was merely the beginning of a new world order, and the new government would have to prove their legitimacy and continue the decommunization of the state’s power structure.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about and want to get up to speed, check out my last article by clicking the button below.

"The Christmas That Freed A Nation"

Now, where were we?

January 1990.

Romania was no longer a state under the Iron Curtain and had broken off from the totalitarian dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu with his trial and execution. Replacing the Communist Party government was the Council of the National Salvation Front (CFSN), led by Ion Iliescu. CFSN would act as the country’s organism of power until the country was stabilized.

Their accomplishments were separating the state’s power, removing any traces of Ceausescu’s corrupt influence and organizing free elections.

While this seemed like a good thing for the people who had just gone through violent protests, at least in Timișoara and Bucharest, it wouldn’t last long.

On January 23rd 1990, CFSN declared that they would be participating in the general elections scheduled for May of the same year, becoming a political party under the National Salvation Front (FSN) name. Despite promising that they were not a political group and would not become one when they took power, it only took them one month to change their mind.

The public opinion about them didn’t change much due to them controlling almost all major news outlets in the country. To the average citizen, they were still regarded as the “liberators of Romania from dictatorial rule”. The only people who were polarized by this message were supporters and members of the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Christian Democrat National Peasants’ Party (PNȚ-CD), both historical parties which were suppressed during the communist regime and resurfaced after the revolution.

As a movement against FSN’s power play, the two parties decided to hold a manifestation just 5 days later in Bucharest.

28 January 1990 - The First Mineriad

Reacting to the news of the historical parties and fearing this protest would tip the scales in the election, Iliescu decided to use some of that presidential power. His goal was simple: discredit the two parties and bring the people closer to FSN.

So he called up some miners.

Now, a little context is due. In 1977 the Jiu Valley miners, unhappy with the social programs in the country, went on strike for 3 days, until they were reprimanded and arrested by Ceausescu’s regime. 13 years later and with him gone, they swore loyalty to Iliescu, and he knew exactly what to do with them.

The day of the meeting came, and people were lined up to support the democratic parties going up against FSN in the elections. However, they were interrupted by 5,000 miners sent by Iliescu, under the pretext of “re-establishing order”. Bucharest was plagued with chaos. The workers raided party buildings, beat up protesters and detained party members.

It was clear now - FSN was ready to do anything in order to remain in power. But that’s not democratic at all, and let’s not forget, the reason they seized power in the first place was to “restore democracy” in Romania. January 28’s events were the first cracks in FSN’s structure that would lead to its demise, and the consequences were immediately made apparent.

The following day, under pressure from the leaders of the historical parties and fellow CFSN members, Iliescu declared the Provisional Council of National Unity (CPUN), a revamped CFSN, but this time Iliescu’s party only made up 50% of the entire government, with the other half being occupied by members of PNL and PNȚ-CD.

Iliescu took a half measure. He honored the other parties’ leaders’ proposal for representation in government, but on the other hand, his party was shown in a poor light, and it would take a miracle (or propaganda) to lead them to winning the elections.

And it wouldn’t take long until protesters rose up once more.

18 February 1990 - The Second Mineriad

Victory Square, Bucharest. An anti-communist manifestation in front of the government building quickly turned into a protest against FSN. The interim government was assimilated to that of the Romanian Communist Party, and shouts such as “FSN, go to the USSR!” and “We don’t want any more communists, ‘securists’ or activists!” filled up the square.

Outraged by the defiance of the people, Vice-Prime Minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu made his appearance at the entrance, holding an automatic weapon, trying to intimidate the protesters. Only it failed horribly.

Chaos ensued, and the government building was breached.

If I could compare this event to any other one, it would be the earlier Romanian Revolution, and it really shows how for the protesters for the change from Ceaușescu to Iliescu wasn’t more than one dictator following another and making amends to gain the sympathy of the people.

By the time the miners came, the crowd was already gone, and no violent incidents were reported to have happened. Still, it pushed deeper into the idea that FSN were abusing their power, and that was made clear by Iliescu’s speech on TV that night, where he called the protest participants “counter-revolutionaries”, “anarchists” and implied they were funded by the historical parties to destabilize the government, stressing the idea that he will take measures against the people who are responsible for “acts of violence”.

If only he knew what would happen next…

13 June 1990 - The Third Mineriad

Supporters of the historical parties became increasingly unsatisfied with Iliescu, so they took to University Square in Bucharest and declared it “a zone free of neo-communism” on April 22. There were protests, chants and unrest in that area due to FSN’s governing of Romania, and some protesters argued that the revolution was merely an exchange of power from a totalitarian communist (Ceausescu) to a pluralist communist (Iliescu). The protest culminated in the publishing of the Timisoara Proclamation, a series of laws aiming to remove the neo-communists from power, forbidding them from holding public office for 10 years.

Despite the intellectuals’ efforts, the government did not take note of these declarations and formally held the elections on May 20, where FSN won both the Parliament and the Presidency in a landslide.

Now that the election was over and their rivals had won power, some people stopped protesting in University Square, but others, outraged at the results of the vote, came in their place and the demonstrations moved forward.

Finally, June 13 came.

By morning, police would start violently repressing the protest and destroying the tents which housed it. Fights broke out and arrests were made. Later, the workers of the IMGB (Bucharest Heavy Machinery Enterprise, or BHME) joined the fight while chanting “Death to intellectuals!” and “We work, we don’t think!”. Smoke filled the area from some buses that were burned down on purpose by the authorities.

Iliescu came to speak on live TV, calling for the end of the revolt and labeling it an “extremist attempt of force on democracy”.

That day, 4 people were shot and killed during the devastation of the Bucharest Police headquarters and other sites. And it would only get worse.

The day after, the Jiu Valley miners arrived in Bucharest, where they were ordered by the President to occupy University Square, and so they did. They beat the protesters down to a pulp, and then went ahead and vandalized numerous university buildings, independent newsrooms, and the offices of PNL and PNȚ-CD.

It was an attack on free speech, and that became known to the entire world, who pleaded for an end to the violence.

By June 15, the protesters were no more. Iliescu publicly thanked the miners for re-establishing order in the capital and praised their “civic sense”. Then, they were on the train back to the mines.

To this day, the Mineriad case is one of the most controversial events in post-1989 Romania, and it has been opened and closed many times. On April 2, 2025 it was taken to court once again. Iliescu (who passed away only 4 months later) and his accomplices are accused of crimes against humanity, and one can only hope that it will come to an end and the people responsible will get what they deserve.

As you can probably tell, this is not the end of the story. The 1989 Revolution overthrew Ceaușescu’s dictatorship, while these three Mineriads affirmed that FSN was going to do anything to keep their power, controlling the masses using TV and newspapers.

In my next articles, I will be introducing a new series called “Romania VS Extremism”, where I will be documenting the rise of far-right extremist movements, and the first post will be set exactly after the events of the Third Mineriad.

Until then, have a nice day.

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It was December 1989 and winds of change were blowing in the east. By then, the communist republics under the USSR’s infamous Iron Curtain had turned democratic and aligned with the West. Poland came first, Hungary and Austria followed, and then came the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Eastern Bloc was dissolved. But still, one country part of the Warsaw Pact was still standing, the Socialist Republic of Romania.

However, it would not be long until the regime fell there as well, as by Christmas the Romanian people were free from the communist dictatorship.

This article is about the Romanian Revolution of 1989, regarded as the bloodiest and most violent revolution out of the ones that took place that same year. 1,100 people lost their lives during the uprising, with another 3,000 wounded. Their sacrifice was not in vain.

16-17 December

What’s interesting is how this revolution even started, as I can assure you not even Romanians know the full story. Of course, the revolutionary sentiment started growing after the fall of communism in Bulgaria and East Germany, but it didn’t start from nowhere. The event responsible for starting the Romanian Revolution was actually a protest against the deportation of Hungarian Reformed Pastor László Tőkés in Timișoara, a city close to the border between the two countries on December 16. The Romanian state accused the pastor of spreading anti-Romanian remarks in international media, when in reality he was only criticizing the totalitarian regime. This spread fast in the city, where the protesters started chanting anti-communist slogans, claiming this was another attempt to restrict the freedom of religion by the state. Later on, they tried to break into the Romanian Communist Party’s County Committee building, but were hit with tear gas by the forces of the State Security Department (infamously known as the “Security” in popular terms).

It turns out that tear gas was the lightest way of repression by the RCP, as just a day after the initial protest, dictator Nicolae Ceausescu openly approved the shooting of civilian protesters. That didn’t stop the revolutionaries from entering the Committee building this time, throwing propaganda documents and other communist symbols from the window, before trying to set the whole thing on fire.

Timisoara was a battlefield: helicopters, tanks, trucks, along with gunshots and cars on fire. It was the beginning of a nationwide revolution.

20 December

The fighting in Timisoara persisted, workers on strike were shot at and the state formally declared martial law.

Then came the push. 100,000 people filled up Opera Square, protesting against the communist government. The Romanian Democratic Front would be created on December 20, with their main objective being the overthrowing of dictator Ceausescu and democratizing the nation. Said dictator, returning from a visit to Iran, held a speech in Bucharest, where he condemned the revolutionaries and labeled them as “enemies of the Romanian Socialist Republic”.

21-22 December

Ceausescu’s efforts to stop the revolution came too late, as even members of the Army began to sympathize with the protesters, as they took control of Timisoara on the 21st of December.

Thus, the first city was liberated from communist rule.

Following this, Nicolae Ceausescu would speak again in front of the people in Bucharest, only this moment would remain in history as his last public interaction as dictator of Romania. He was helpless. The people wouldn’t listen to him and were more preoccupied with the revolutionary movement happening at the same time in the city. The entire television transmission is available on YouTube, and watching it only leaves you with one impression: Ceausescu was defeated.

The movement rapidly escalated, and though the protesters were only shouting anti-Ceausescu chants and waving the Romanian flag with the socialist badge cut out from it, the Security opened fire, brought tanks to shoot at them and stomp them. 50 civilians were killed, 462 wounded and over 1,000 were arrested. It would be the most violent repression to have happened during the revolution. The fallen protesters are regarded as heroes who sacrificed themselves for the freedom of this country and its people.

The Security may have put their foot in the door, but at this point the state would go on a downward spiral.

22 December is regarded as a pivotal day in the history of the revolution, as 100,000 civilians would flood the square leading up to the Central PCR Committee building, where Ceausescu and his wife were hiding, blocking them in. It looked like they were about to be captured, but when a helicopter landed on the roof of the building, the pair jumped in and escaped the madness that was in Bucharest at the time.

This meant victory for the revolutionaries. They took over the television programs, announcing to the world: “Brothers, we have won!”.

Romania was free now. After more than 40 years of totalitarian rule, it was democratic again.

A long road came for the new government to be installed in an emergency, but first the people responsible had to pay for their crimes.

25 December

The final day for Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. After fleeing from Bucharest on the 22nd, they were captured and arrested in a commune next to Târgoviște a few hours later.

December 25th marked the day of their trial. The Exceptionary Military Tribunal, which was created by Ion Iliescu, head of the new democratic government, charged the two with genocide, undermining of state power by armed action, undermining of state economy and attempted fleeing of the country. 1 hour and 20 minutes was all it took for the trial to prove they were guilty. The couple would be executed by firing squad minutes later.

That would be the last time the death penalty would be used as it was abolished soon after.

It was a dark time. And it still haunts us Romanians these days. While some look at Christmas and think of presents, the Christmas tree or Santa Claus, the people old enough to remember what happened 36 years ago still mourn the fallen and honor them for their sacrifice, as without it Romania would have remained a communist nation.

Happy holidays.

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Well, this is the second time I’m writing about a movie that just released, but who’s counting?

The movie this time is Nuremberg, an intense WW2 thriller that follows the story of Supreme Court Justice Jackson who is preparing to conduct the first ever international criminal trial in the German city of Nuremberg. The main plot also includes a psychiatrist who is recruited by the US Army at the end of the war to assess the remaining captured German leaders’ mental state and find out more about the psychological effects of Nazism.

Every self-proclaimed modern history enthusiast should know that the trials portrayed in the movie paved the way for prosecuting crimes against humanity, condemning fascist offences, but most importantly, laid the foundation for the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

However, as great and revolutionizing as the Nuremberg Trials may be, there were only 22 defendants (all from Nazi Germany) that were being tried. There were definitely more people who deserved to be prosecuted, but that’s not what Jackson and the other prosecutions intended, all they wanted to do was punish the Nazis and create legal precedent for other countries to prosecute their own criminals.

And that’s exactly where this article comes in.

But there’s a catch: I won’t be talking about the major countries like France, the UK, Germany or Italy, rather about the most interesting country to take part in the war in my opinion, Romania.

The Nation That Switched Sides

Before I dive into the analysis, I think a lesson in history is due. See, Romania started out the war as a member of the Axis Forces, hoping to retake the USSR-owned region of Basarabia once part of the kingdom. Led by fascist military dictator Ion Antonescu, the Romanian Army was confident of victory, but when the Red Army started pushing into its territory, the entire defense fell. It was at that point that King Michael I had to step in, remove the fascist government, and declare Romania’s exit from the Axis. From then onward, they fought alongside the Allies and became one of the largest non-Soviet contributors on the Eastern Front.

Romania’s Very Own Nuremberg

At the end of the war, Romania’s position was awkward to say the least: a country that spread terror, committed acts of antisemitism and stood by Hitler also turned their weapons against the Nazis, sent 500,000 soldiers to fight Hungary and Germany, and arrested their dictator. Despite all of this, they still had to justify to the Allies that they were an anti-fascist nation.

At the same time in 1945, the International Military Tribunal was taking shape, and while they were setting the rules, Romania created their own court, the People’s Tribunals, established in Bucharest and Cluj.

The Indictment

In total, there were 2,700 cases reviewed, with at least 1,000 being admitted in court on counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The main trial took place in May 1946, the defendants included former Prime Minister, general and dictator Ion Antonescu and the leaders of his government. When the verdict came, they were all found guilty. Some managed to get off “easy”, with just a long prison sentence, while the rest were handed life sentences or were condemned to death. Of the death sentences initially issued, only 4 were carried out, and on June 1, 1946, Ion Antonescu, Mihai Antonescu (Deputy Prime Minister under Ion Antonescu), Constantin Z. Vasiliu (leader of the Gendarmerie, responsible for the massacre of jews and Roma people) and Gheorghe Alexianu (governor of Transnistria, responsible for the Odessa Massacre) were executed by firing squad.

As part of the Northern Transylvanian Tribunal, the Cluj Tribunal sentenced 481 people, with the majority of the defendants being Hungarian officials and local collaborators. Although the court’s verdict handed them 100 death sentences and 163 life sentences, most of them either weren’t carried out, were released a few years into their sentence due to good behavior, or were released as part of the amnesties granted in 1962 and 1964.

Were The Trials Fair?

Although they switched sides, Romania wasn’t exactly considered part of the Allies. That’s the reason why the Soviets still occupied their territory and began anchoring their communist ideology. That would lead to the Communist Party gaining traction, which would later be the key event in the abolishing of the monarchy and proclamation of the Socialist Republic of Romania.

Keep in mind, all of this was happening while the People’s Tribunals were going on. So, if you’re looking for an easy answer to the question, you won’t get one.

Let’s make one thing clear though, the Tribunals indicted fascists, Nazi collaborators, war criminals and members of the Iron Guard. It’s not exaggeration, nor bias when I say that these people deserved their punishment for spreading terror and following outright racist and anti-semitic ideologies. And the evidence was right there: documents, orders, testimonials, staring them in the face. Therefore, from this point of view, the trials were just.

However, we can’t deny that these trials were framed politically to legitimize communism in the eyes of the people. Most notably, the Allied Control Commission which oversaw these trials was dominated by the Soviets, so another reason as to why the trials were “fixed”. As I said, the defendants of these trials were fascists, no figures were aligned to the USSR. It could be argued that it wasn’t an objective for the trials to achieve, but again, no openly communist figure would be prosecuted due to the occupation.

So I think that settles it. The trials were politically constrained, but in the end, the people that committed atrocities in the war were defeated and got their right punishment. You could call this a 50-50.

Ending Words

One disclaimer I’d like to make is I did NOT write this article to paint the Soviets in a good picture. They would go on to plunge Romania in one of its darkest and poorest eras in its entire history, with the regime finally falling in 1989.

The main purpose of this article is to educate on Romania’s role in WW2 and beyond, expanding on Nuremberg’s influence in the creation of the People’s Tribunals.

Laws, equity, sentencing, witnesses. Prosecution, evidence, cases and lawyers.

That’s Justice. The third pillar of democracy, and in my opinion, the most vital one.

Now, you’ve probably heard of the other two pillars: Legislation and Governation. You’ve also heard of them being corrupted from within. But when it comes to mind, it’s very rare, even unlikely, you’ll hear of a corrupt magistrate. That’s because most judges, especially the ones you hear about in famous cases, go through rigorous preparation, various checks, have strict rules and can always be inspected. However, some fly under the radar and that’s exactly how corruption thrives. From there, it grows and grows, until justice itself is compromised and only acts in the interest of others, not in fairness.

You might have no idea what I’m writing about, and honestly, I don’t blame you, the news aren’t always the best explainers and tend to be overly obnoxious. So allow me to bring you up to speed.

On December 9th, a group of investigative journalists known as Recorder published a 2-hour long documentary called “The Captured Justice” on their YouTube channel that stirred up mass controversy and disloyalty towards the judiciary authority, with outrage getting as high as civilians protesting in the street and in front of important justice buildings.

The documentary included statements from prosecutors, judges and experts in anti-corruption talking about how high-profile corruption cases are prolonged, delayed and manipulated by higher-ups so that the case either doesn’t get to court, is sealed or gets dismissed, letting the culprit walk free. This represented the main strategy to protect corrupt politicians against accusations coming from the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA).

For context, DNA was a prosecuting organization notorious for the arrests and convictions of dirty politicians such as Liviu Dragnea, Victor Ponta, Sorin Oprescu and Elena Udrea. Under Laura Codruța Kövesi, the organization became revered by the people as the solution to the corruption problem in Romania, hence their 60% result in trust polls, which was monumental at the time (for reference, the Parliament was at a mere 13%, while the Government was no better at 23%).

DNA didn’t stop even when Kövesi left to become the chief prosecutor for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. They managed to outdo their past years’ performance under Crin Bologa, and the eradication of corruption in Romania seemed tangible. However, at one point, the arrests and accusations came to a halt. These coincidently corresponded with the appointing of Marius Voineag as chief prosecutor. The documentary revealed that DNA prosecutors were pressured to stop pursuing high-profile corruption cases by the chief prosecutor, leading to the dismissals and resignations of over 20 prosecutors out of the 140 active.

The same thing was also happening with the judges. Of the cases that ended up in court, a multitude of them would end up without a serious sentence, due to a loophole abused mainly by the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

See, when a case is first presented by the prosecutors, it is assigned to a panel of judges (mostly 2) who review the evidence, hear witnesses and get on with the trial until a decision is made. The loophole? As the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) states, for a case to be judged fairly and impartially, judges must personally review the evidence and witnesses themselves. This means that whenever a judge from the panel is taken off a case and replaced by another, that second judge has to restart the reviewing process once again, leading to delays. And here comes the bomb: you can’t try a criminal case forever. As per the Statute of Limitations, legal action and sentencing can only begin before a certain time frame, after which the serious accusations are dismissed due to prescription. The documentary showed multiple examples of this, such as the Marian Vanghelie case, where after being sentenced to almost 12 years in prison and ordered to pay 15 million euro for abuse of office, money laundering and bribery, he is relieved of the jail time and only found guilty of bribery and ordered to repay the 3 million euro bribe, as his other accusations were statute-barred.

Finally, these abuses of power are explained in the third chapter of the documentary, which covers the higher-ups of the judicial system, namely the Superior Council of Magistrates (CSM) and the High Court of Cassation and Justice (ICCJ). Only these organizations haven’t been necessarily orchestrating, rather influenced by one person: Lia Savonea.

A prominent and polarizing figure in justice and politics, Lia Savonea is a judge who worked her way from the Bucharest Sector 6 Court all the way to the most important positions in the judicial system: president of the Bucharest Court of Appeal, member and president of the CSM and currently the president of the ICCJ. However, the documentary pointed out that while she has left her past positions, Savonea appointed close loyalists in her departure, so that the control is still in her hands, such as the Bucharest Court of Appeal situation, where the president and 3 vice presidents of the Court have either been proposed by Savonea or have close ties to her.

The documentary ends talking about magistrates that have spoken up about issues in the system or refused to bow down to the corrupt plans. Judges have been investigated, threatened and even excluded from magistracy as a whole under the pretext of “disciplinary misconduct”, all coordinated by CSM, the organization pretending to represent and act in the best interest for the magistrates.

Alas, this documentary exposed the current situation that Romanian justice is facing, and it outraged citizens. Since it was released, people have been protesting every day in multiple cities, asking for the resignations of the people responsible, something that hadn’t been done since 2017, when the infamous Ordinance of Urgency 13 protected Liviu Dragnea from prosecution.

My article on Dragnea here

It really goes to show how there is much to be done in Romania, and especially on the justice side, where things have gotten out of hand. I hope these protests will amount to something and that the magistrates will also finally speak out and condemn these abuses of power. Moreover, I wish DNA gets back to their glory days, helping out with the elimination of corruption in the country.

Absolutism as a concept emerged in the 16th century, as monarchs took full control and authority of the state, solely ruling it. Since then, times have changed, and democracy is now the leading ideology for most states in the world.

Even though it is widely considered to be the “perfect” way to lead a state, democracy isn’t perfect, as I’m pretty sure everyone knows.

The main defect of democracy is that it isn’t effective in places where the voters aren’t properly informed politically, thus leading to candidates who aren’t necessarily fit for the position to be elected due to their sugarcoated campaign speeches and promises. Once in a position of power, some people start thinking of ways to amass even more power, to the point that it becomes authoritative and illegal.

That right there is called corruption, also known as Democracy’s Archnemesis.

Today’s story is about one man who was so corrupt and had so much power he came dangerously close to becoming the de facto dictator of Romania. He had the Parliament in his right hand, the Government in his left, and the leading party in his pocket. Romanians still dread the sound of his name, as he is responsible for massive protests, corruption scandals and years of incompetence in the state. That man’s name is Liviu Dragnea, and this is the story about his rise to power, and his eventual downfall.

Liviu Dragnea started his rise to power in the county of Teleorman, one of Romania’s poorest regions, becoming its prefect in 1996. Four years later, he would become President of the Teleorman County Council, where he would be re-elected 3 times in a row. By that time, he had come to be known as the “baron of Teleorman”. He owned land, companies, and the loyalties of mayors across the county. He built his empire on contracts, local favors, and personal loyalty, a network so tight that even small-town mayors owed him their careers. Simply put, he could do anything he wanted in his corner of the world, and no one would bat an eye. Bundled with the fact that Teleorman had an overwhelming number of members of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) in local administrative functions, Dragnea had become the head of a county fully run by his party, and he could manipulate it however he could.

An opportunity presented itself when the Government at the time decided to hold a National Referendum to determine the impeachment of President Traian Băsescu. This resulted in a showdown between USL (Social Liberal Union), an alliance made up of Social Democrats and Liberals at that time, and the President, who had strained relations with the party.

Though never proven in full, many believe USL turned to Dragnea to ‘get the numbers up’ by any means necessary and be the x-factor that wins them the vote. In the 2012 referendum, the counties Teleorman, Olt and Giurgiu held one of the biggest voting presences in the country, as well as the highest percentages of votes in favor of the impeachment. Evidence later showed that Dragnea had sent text messages urging local party leaders to mobilize. It was later revealed that ballots were forged to inflate turnout in rural settlements, and the same votes were cast repeatedly in some places. It all added up pretty quickly.

Though the referendum was invalidated due to low turnout, it is thought that this feat sky-rocketed him to the top of PSD’s most trusted people list, as he would become Executive President of the Social Democratic Party the year following the referendum. This would, however, come back to bite him, as in 2016 he was found to be the head of an elaborate organizing scheme that manipulated the national referendum percentages, earning him 2 years of probation.

2012 was also the year he joined the government led by Prime Minister and Social Democrat president Victor Ponta as Minister of Regional Development and Administration. Because of his wealth, services to the party and charisma, he managed to hold considerable influence in the party, as in 2015, after Ponta resigned, he won leadership in a landslide, going from control over a county to leadership of a mainstream national party, one step closer to nationwide authority. Soon enough, he was going to reach that too.

Led by Dragnea, the Social Democratic Party entered one of its most dominant political phases, winning elections with huge differences, like the 2016 parliamentary elections, where they managed to acquire 221 seats out of 465 in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate combined, controlling almost 48% of the Romanian Parliament.

Dragnea’s tenure as leader of the Social Democrats and President of the Chamber of Deputies dictated control over absolutely anyone who was against the wave. Although he was never Prime Minister himself, Dragnea had his say in whoever would be named, pulling the strings, as he carefully executed his plan.

Now controlling the government and the majority of the parliament, they could forcefully adopt laws to keep them in power.

So, in 2017, when Dragnea was found responsible for over 100,000 Lei (RON) in financial damages, the Social Democrats acted fast and adopted an Ordinance of Urgency, which set the threshold for prosecution at 200 000 Lei, just enough to keep Dragnea free. The ordinance dropped overnight, without debate, while most Romanians were asleep. By morning, thousands were in the streets, screaming “PSD, Ciuma Roșie!” (“PSD, the Red Plague!”).

Hundreds of thousands of people filled Bucharest’s streets, waving flags and flashlights in the cold night, the largest demonstrations since 1989’s Revolution. For the first time, the man who could bend laws in Teleorman found himself facing a country that refused to bend.

To this day, this is still seen as one of the biggest corruption scandals in Romania’s history, and it signaled to Dragnea that his time as a lawless man was running out, and his empire would soon fall. What followed was a downward trend, full of controversies, accusations and moments of incompetence encapsulated by the Social Democrats. The next Prime Minister, Viorica Dancila, was the head of it. Her foreign policy blunders, from confusing Montenegro’s capital to proposing a secret embassy move, revealed how unprepared she was for leadership. These events opened everyone’s eyes, as she was no more than a puppet of Dragnea’s in a last-ditch effort to stay relevant.

However, with prosecutors looking into him, they were bound to find something, and on June 21, 2018, he was found guilty of abuse of office and embezzlement and sentenced to three years and six months in prison. While the case took a little bit longer to end, on May 27, 2019, Dragnea was put behind bars at Rahova Prison.

Outside the prison walls, his empire was crumbling: Dancila’s government was replaced and the Social Democratic Party distanced themselves from Dragnea, though his shadow still was visible in places, exposing the illicit business he was doing while free.

In July 2021, he was conditionally released from prison. Even though he was forbidden from being part of a local administration, Dragnea promoted the Alliance For The Homeland party, even so much as having his name and face on the party’s signs. However, it seems that the party quickly caught on to the manipulation he was known for in his heyday, and by 2022 they effectively ceased all collaboration.

After years of power tripping, manipulation and puppeteering, it seems that Liviu Dragnea’s dream to use Romania for his own gain failed, only because of the people’s protests and political awareness. Since then, the Romanian political scene has had many lessons to learn from Dragnea’s time as politician. He may be gone from the political scene for now, but Romania needs to be wary. Unchecked local power can quietly grow into national danger.

In the present day, the name Liviu Dragnea suggests Romania’s dark times, where corruption was running rampant and both legislative and executive power was run by one man, effectively running an entire country by himself as Romania’s most corrupt politician.

Thanks for reading this story! I have many more just like these on the way, so if you liked this one, subscribe to be notified when the next one drops. Your support is appreciated!

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It’s not often you see me at a cinema. For one, I don’t follow posts regarding new releases, nor do I check the cinema’s website every week.

Safe to say, movies aren’t a big part of my life. Yes, I do consider some of them art pieces, but only a fraction make that list. I could write an article giving my personal top 10 movies of all time, but there will always be someone that has a different pick, sometimes movies that I haven’t even watched.

It’s safe to say I don’t concern myself with movies a lot, but truthfully, what I’m about to tell you in this article made me change my opinion about movies.

To give you a little perspective, the film industry in Romania is…lackluster at best. Most of the movies are just plain comedies that are made for the sole purpose of raking in some real profits from viewers instead of the YouTube views. That’s the reason why when I bought a ticket for this movie, I was doubtful it could surprise me.

Boy, did it blow me away.

But enough mystery, the movie I am talking about is “The Yellow Tie”, a biopic of Sergiu Celibidache, widely known as one of the greatest conductors of the 20th century, directed by his son, Serge Ioan Celibidachi, who I got to meet at the screening (more on that later!).

To sum up his life, Sergiu Celibidache was born in 1912, in the city of Roman, Romania, and left the country at 24 to move to Berlin, where he was taken under the wing by German composer Heinz Tiessen. In Germany, he became the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic from 1945 to 1952. His conducting took him to orchestras in the UK, Italy, France, Sweden, earning him a reputation in all of Europe, and he was even invited to conduct at the concert organised after Germany’s reunification in 1989.

This man was regarded as a living legend in my country, despite him performing only a couple of times in his lifetime due to the Soviets’ occupation of Romania. His concerts all around the world would be broadcast home, where millions stood and watched him.

Honestly, I had never heard Sergiu Celibidache’s name before, until I watched this movie.

I left the cinema room in disbelief, because I still couldn’t believe that this was a Romanian production. The visuals in this movie were out of this world, and bundled up with the extraordinary music and audio in general, they made for an extremely emotional and pleasant watch. Everything seemed to be thought of, like the lighting, the colors, the focus, it immersed you in that world of music. And don’t get me started on the choreography and the synchronization. I have to praise Ben Schnetzer, who executed the moves of a real-world orchestra conductor perfectly, emulating Celibidache’s style.

When you think of a biopic about musicians, out of those that are in your head involve bands or singers, vocalists in the grand sense. However, how can you write a movie about a musician who doesn’t even sing?

This is where “The Yellow Tie” shines, because it introduces you right off the bat into a world where classical music isn’t this elitist hobby far from the common folk’s reach like it is today, but more of an outlet for people to feel emotion and closeness. This contrasts with the movie’s first act, as young Sergiu felt isolated and threatened by his father’s authority and expectations to become the Prime Minister of Romania. His first big step toward achieving his real dream of composing music was leaving home, arriving in Bucharest. His relationship with Ortancia definitely helped in his compositions, as shown in the movie. She acted as his muse, inspiring him to include sentimentality in his works that eventually reached Heinz Tiessen.

Another thing this movie incredibly portrays is Nazi Germany. Scenes where music is playing with tanks in the background, soldiers shouting Halt! to people on the street and loud explosions perfectly sum up what WWII felt like in Berlin. The terror, the fear, and the hope that came after the war was all visible on the big screen.

Outside of the concert room, a main aspect of the conductor’s life is living up to his father’s standards. Even after rejecting his vision and leaving home, his words still haunted him in hard times. He never settled for mediocrity, demanded numerous repetitions before performing and was very critical of members of the orchestra, other conductors, and even himself. Sergiu Celibidache learned of his father’s death when he first returned to Romania to perform and was convinced Demostene had died hating Sergiu for not fulfilling his dream. That moment got him through many years, until he opened the package he got from him, which included every newspaper that included him in the headline, and finally, the yellow tie his father had got him in his youth, meant for after he would become Prime Minister. In that moment, Sergiu was free of the perfectionist vision and excruciatingly high standards. The movie ends with a very clear message: don’t let others dictate your worth, be your own man and teach this to the people you care about.

“You are the music.” - Sergiu Celibidache

As the credits rolled, I couldn’t help but get up and applaud, gesturing for the rest of the room to do the same. It exceeded my expectations 10 times over.

Finally, Serge Celibadachi, the director, stood up ready to answer questions. I knew exactly what to ask. After a long time to build up the courage, I raised my hand, he noticed me, and that’s when I said: “Do you hold yourself to the same rigorous standard your father did?”.

He paused, quickly thinking about the question, and gave me the answer: “I can’t answer that. However, I know I am as passionate as he was with his works, and that’s what matters.”.

The answer perfectly showed his humble character and admiration for his father, both of which were indispensable in the making of this movie. I shook his hand as I left the cinema room, expressing my satisfaction and praising the movie to the maximum.

My rating is clear: 10 out of 10. No movie I have seen in a long time has made me feel the emotions I felt while watching this masterpiece. Everything, down to the most unnoticeable detail was perfectly planned and executed.

If you want to check out more about this movie, click on the button below, and if it ever reaches your theaters, give it a try, you will be blown away.

"The Yellow Tie" on IMDb

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And no, I’m not from Ukraine. I’m from Romania, and I live in a city called Galați, that is just 40 kilometers from Ukraine. And yet somehow, a drone wandered into our territory and caused panic in the entire country for 6 hours.

For context, the night before, on the 24th of November 2025, parts of Ukraine suffered another bombardment from Russia, with 6 killed and 3 injured in Kyiv. This shows that despite the status of the peace talks and the proposal of a plan by the United States, the Russian Army doesn’t slow down at all, continuing their efforts towards their dreamed surrender of Ukraine.

During those bombardments, it appears that a drone coming from Vilkovo entered Romanian airspace into the county of Tulcea at around 6 AM. After being picked up by the radars, two German jets took off from the “Mihail Kogălniceanu” NATO military base. An alert was sent out to the people of Tulcea, informing them of the drone and advising them to protect themselves. Later, the drone was reported to have reached the county of Galați, as alerts were sent there as well at 7:48 AM. In the city, people panicked, as phones rang everywhere with alerts. Schools, workplaces and homes stood still, with the fear that the drone might fall at that moment.

At this point, multiple jets from different military bases were sent to survey the drone which made its way to Vrancea, the third county of Romania it had flown over. The Ministry of National Defence made it clear that no harm was caused by the drone. The statement added that the pilots are monitoring the target and have permission to engage. However, the pilots chose not to open fire, and at 10 AM, they reported having lost contact with the drone, presumably as the target re-entered Ukrainian airspace.

Later on, the drone was found crashed in Vaslui. It didn’t hold any explosive load, and it also wasn’t shot down, indicating that it crashed on its own, falling from a high altitude.

It’s important to note that this is not the first time an event like this has happened. Since February 2022, it is reported that there have been at least 50 instances of Russian airspace violations in Ukraine’s neighboring countries, with Romania taking up more than 10 cases. That says a lot about Russia’s opinions on international law and NATO member states. This event cannot be categorized as anything else than a blatant disregard of the rules and an insult to Romanian authorities by the Russian warmongerer.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, living in a city like Galați has been pretty eventful. Sometimes, you can see the sky light up at night during attacks close to the border, along with sounds from the explosions. I was 12 when the war started, and when I heard that the attacks were right next to my home, I felt a little fear. Back then, I thought the conflict would escalate and other countries would get involved, including Romania, and that in the blink of an eye, my city would be destroyed. Over time, it became clear that Romania won’t directly implicate itself in the war, only sending aid to the Ukrainian forces. Being 16 now, I have started to see things more clearly and learned to read between the lines in everyday news reports.

While Romania isn’t at war with Russia in the military sense, it is fighting a war on misinformation. And that war isn’t won with weapons or tactics, it’s won with national awareness and journalism. Right now, I believe that is my calling, and I will publish articles here weekly, with the objective to attract and keep readers up to date with Romania’s affairs, whether internal or external.

And being a journalist isn’t hard, anyone can write an article.

You just start with a sentence. Mine was:

“Today, a Russian Drone flew over my city.”

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Back then, the game was a curiosity drifting across Europe, carried by sailors, engineers, and dreamers from England’s ports.

One of the countries who picked the sport up was Romania, where football became more than a game, it became an identity. Under the shackles of communism, it was the people’s voice for their passion.

In the eastern region of Romania, forged with the steel of the factories and the current of the river Danube, Fotbal Club Oțelul Galați would be born.

By the late 2000’s, this club had achieved promotion to the top flight in Romania, had beaten Juventus Torino in front of their own fans and became one of the 8 UEFA Intertoto Cup co-winners in 2008.

However, these one-off successes never resulted in an actual trophy and pale in comparison to FC Oțelul Galați’s illustrious 2010/2011 campaign. Managed by Dorinel Munteanu, only in his second season at the club, the team dominated the Romanian Liga I, winning the league with 70 points and achieving history as the only football club from Moldova to lift a First Division Championship Title.

If that wasn’t enough, they lifted the Romanian Supercup a couple of months later and played in the UEFA Champions League Group Stage, facing off against Basel, Benfica and Manchester United.

This represented, undoubtebly, the highest peak of Oțelul Galați as a football club.

But, as all stories go, there has to be something that goes wrong, and in Oțelul’s case, it cost them their club.

Just two seasons after their championship, cracks started to form at the club, as both club president Marius Stan and manager Dorinel Munteanu left. That wasn’t the only issue, though, as some shady cases of bribery and embezzlement bundled up with financial mismanagement led to Otelul going into insolvency. This was followed by multiple players and staff leaving due to the instability, which led to relegation in 2015. The main culprit for the financial mismanagement at the club seems to be the president who replaced Marius Stan, Dan Adamescu, as in the same year he was arrested for bribery and convicted to 4 years in prison for corruption.

After the relegation, Oțelul had no choice but to let players go and play the Liga II games with the youth team, resulting in yet another relegation. The 2015–16 season was topped off with the club’s official declaration of bankruptcy on April 1, 2016.

After 50 years of professional football, FC Oțelul Galați’s story was over. But as the saying goes, “it can only get better from here”

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While the aforementioned achievements and descriptions make up the most of the club’s history, the next chapter wrote the real story.

Shortly after its bankruptcy, a group of supporters founded a club named ASC Oțelul Galați and registered it in the fourth tier of Romanian football. Despite strong campaigns in the lower tiers, promotion repeatedly slipped away in the play-offs.

It seemed like the new SC Oțelul was doomed to stay in the lower leagues, but little did everyone know, they only needed a familiar face. Ahead of the 2021/22 season, Otelul announced that former manager Dorinel Munteanu, the one who won the championship with the team, had signed a contract with them and would return in the dugout that season. Following this news, the club dominated. They won their group again and flew past Dante Botoșani in the play-offs to earn promotion to the Liga II, the second tier. At this point, it was clear. Oțelul and Dorinel Munteanu had one job, and that was top-flight football.

After being promoted, they found themselves in the top 6 of the second division, qualifying for the championship play-offs. Only in the last game did they manage to win promotion, though, after a converted penalty by Răzvan Gorovei won them the match against Unirea Dej.

Oțelul Galați had done it: they had reached the first division of Romanian football, 8 years after their relegation and bankruptcy, returning to the big leagues under a new name, but the same tradition.

Entering their first season in the Romanian Superliga with one of the lowest transfer budgets, the fans didn’t have much faith in the team. They would be facing the best competition in the entire country. However, they didn’t disappoint: a 4–2 demolition of UTA Arad, 3 games won in a row against FCU Craiova and even a statement win against that season’s future champion, FCSB, on their own home turf. They finished 11th after 30 games, 16 of which were draws, the club being nicknamed “Champions of Draws”. The league stage football might have gone alright for Oțelul, but in the other competition, they excelled.

In the Romanian Cup, after a decisive 3–3 draw against Dinamo Bucharest in the group stage, the club had made it into the knockout rounds, facing CS Universitatea Craiova, a regular play-off contender in the league. A difficult match, the clubs butted heads until one gave out, and that was in extra time, when Oțelul right-back Mihai Adăscăliței ran all the way to the byline to low cross it to João Lameira, who gave the team the win and qualification to the next round. In another fiery clash in the semifinals, Otelul found themselves even at 1–1 with FC Universitatea Cluj, until Alexandru Chipciu pushed the ball into his own net in the 90th minute, booking Oțelul a ticket to Sibiu, where the Romanian Cup Final would be played.

The fans were shocked: everyone had written the team off, predicting they would fight against relegation and stay mediocre for seasons on end due to their low budget, but on that day, a fire grew inside everyone’s hearts. That fire represented ambition and determination, perseverance and resilience.

And here they were: Sibiu, May 15th 2024, Otelul Galati against second tier side Corvinul Hunedoara in the Romanian Cup final. Emotions ran high. For the first time in 10 years, they were close to winning a trophy, the only one missing from their domestic cabinet. And in the 27th minute, Oțelul scored through a phenomenal free-kick from Anes Rusevic. 12 minutes later, Corvinul equalized, and the teams went to the tunnel even at half-time. Then again, a penalty was awarded to Galați, and Rusevic made it 2–1. With 15 minutes left in the game, however, Corvinul persisted, scoring the second goal. The game went to extra time, and from there to penalty shoot-out. For Oțelul fans, there was only one word: heartbreak. With 3 Galați players missing their shots, Corvinul Hunedoara claimed the victory and the prestigious cup.

But, as fans walked off the stadium, disappointed, they looked around, saw each other and asked: “How did we get here?”.

There were hundreds of supporters, all who travelled a great distance to watch their favorite team play a cup final, only to see them lose the chance at a trophy in the last moments. And that’s how life is sometimes: it doesn’t pan out the way you think it will. What’s important is living in the moment, feeling the adrenaline, the emotions, the hard work, the discipline that paved the way for this club to return to the top of Romanian football.

And on the road back home, the fans still laughed, sang, joked and smiled, because no matter the result, the club was a symbol of community.

And that’s how the story ends. I could go further, detailing their next season and covering their unbeaten start going down the drain due to financial instability and their surprising reinvention right after. However, I think it’s best to end this article right here, coming full circle, from their creation in 1964 as a staple of the footballing community in the portuary city of Galati, to 60 years later, where once again, despite continuous setbacks, the spirit of community is still rampant in the streets of Galați.

And who knows? Maybe the club will repeat the feat of winning another title, and I can give you readers the good ending you will have been waiting for.

But until next time, Steel Boys in the city of Danube, forever and ever…

Expect well-written articles with an eye-catching title (though not clickbait), context within the story for the unknowing and a conclusion with my opinion (every now and then).

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