Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year.
Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.”
Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round.
Photo: Reuters
George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest, told supporters on Saturday: “We are united, we are strong. We are here because our vote was stolen, because democracy was trampled on.”
Simion told reporters that the protest aimed to “restore democracy and free elections,” and demanded the resignation of Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.
“We do not trust that the upcoming elections will be free and fair,” he said.
A no-confidence vote on Friday, which was backed by AUR and two other far-right opposition parties, failed to unseat Ciolacu’s pro-Western coalition government, which was formed after a Dec. 1 parliamentary election last year.
Romania has seen recurring protests after its Constitutional Court made the unprecedented move to annul the election two days ahead of the Dec. 8 runoff following Georgescu’s surprise first-round win. The far-right populist had polled in single digits and declared zero campaign spending. Allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference quickly emerged. Moscow has denied it meddled in Romania’s election.
On Wednesday last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against Georgescu, accusing him of supporting fascist groups, “incitement to actions against the constitutional order,” and false declarations regarding electoral campaign financing and asset disclosures.
Prosecutors have placed him under judicial control, his lawyers said.
Georgescu, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, attended Saturday’s protest in which he told supporters that “the system has maliciously tried to divide us” and that “old and new cronies tried to block my candidacy.”
The first round of the rerun of the election is scheduled for May 4. If no candidate gets more than 50 percent of ballots, a runoff would follow on May 18.
It is not yet clear whether Georgescu would be able to participate in the new election.
Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was deported from Israel yesterday, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, the day after the Israeli navy prevented her and a group of fellow pro-Palestinian activists from sailing to Gaza. Thunberg, 22, was put on a flight to France, the ministry said, adding that she would travel on to Sweden from there. Three other people who had been aboard the charity vessel also agreed to immediate repatriation. Eight other crew members are contesting their deportation order, Israeli rights group Adalah, which advised them, said in a statement. They are being held at a detention center ahead of a
A Chinese scientist was arrested while arriving in the US at Detroit airport, the second case in days involving the alleged smuggling of biological material, authorities said on Monday. The scientist is accused of shipping biological material months ago to staff at a laboratory at the University of Michigan. The FBI, in a court filing, described it as material related to certain worms and requires a government permit. “The guidelines for importing biological materials into the US for research purposes are stringent, but clear, and actions like this undermine the legitimate work of other visiting scholars,” said John Nowak, who leads field
‘THE RED LINE’: Colombian President Gustavo Petro promised a thorough probe into the attack on the senator, who had announced his presidential bid in March Colombian Senator Miguel Uribe Turbay, a possible candidate in the country’s presidential election next year, was shot and wounded at a campaign rally in Bogota on Saturday, authorities said. His conservative Democratic Center party released a statement calling it “an unacceptable act of violence.” The attack took place in a park in the Fontibon neighborhood when armed assailants shot him from behind, said the right-wing Democratic Center, which was the party of former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. The men are not related. Images circulating on social media showed Uribe Turbay, 39, covered in blood being held by several people. The Santa Fe Foundation
NUCLEAR WARNING: Elites are carelessly fomenting fear and tensions between nuclear powers, perhaps because they have access to shelters, Tulsi Gabbard said After a trip to Hiroshima, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard on Tuesday warned that “warmongers” were pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war. Gabbard did not specify her concerns. Gabbard posted on social media a video of grisly footage from the world’s first nuclear attack and of her staring reflectively at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. On Aug. 6, 1945, the US obliterated Hiroshima, killing 140,000 people in the explosion and by the end of the year from the uranium bomb’s effects. Three days later, a US plane dropped a plutonium bomb on Nagasaki, leaving abut 74,000 people dead by the
RSS