On January 12, Bucharest was the scene of the anger of the Romanian conservative right. Armed with tricolor flags in the colors of the country and religious icons, tens of thousands of demonstrators, or even more according to the organizers who estimate the crowd at 100,000 participants, gathered this Sunday in the Romanian capital to protest against the cancellation of the presidential elections last November. The poll had placed in the lead a candidate without a party, nationalist and eurosceptic, Călin Georgescu, credited with more than 22% of the votes.
« Give us the second round »
Accused by the authorities of having led a campaign supported by Russian financing via social networks, without having organized any meeting, the surprise candidate is the subject of an investigation in which no tangible proof has yet been provided. A context which reinforces the anger of its voters and supporters of the conservative party Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR). His supporters share the feeling of having been made “ want [leur] election “. Described as “ coup d'état “, this event, major for the country, testifies to a patent divide between the political class and part of the Romanian people, who demanded this Sunday the resignation of the centrist president, Klaus Iohannis, as reported by Romania Journal.
Europe in the crosshairs of demonstrators
But this anger targets names other than Romanian political leaders. That, for example, of Ursula von der Leyen, who announced that she had opened a “ in-depth investigation to determine whether TikTok [avait] violates the Digital Services Regulation “. Thierry Breton supported the president's comments to the European Commission by declaring, regarding possible interference by Europe in the German elections: “ We did it in Romania, it will obviously have to be done, if necessary, in Germany. » Enough to transform anger into revolt among a part of the population who had already expressed, through their vote in the first round, their disillusionment with Europe, in the face of promises of progress, economic and social development, of protection, which are struggling to see the light of day, explains Yann Caspar, researcher at the Center for European Studies Mathias Corvinus Collegium in Budapest, contacted on January 13.
The forgotten ones of the Peripheral Romania »
-If the resentment is directed towards the same “ enemy “, it also seems to come from the same segment of the population: those who do not feel represented by the current political class. Like the yellow vests in France, the idea of a “ Peripheral Romania » can be associated with this large-scale protest movement, believes Yann Caspar, specialist in Central Europe, taking as an example the exodus of rural populations who join Western Europe, failing to see their regions develop. , as promised by Romania's entry into the European Union in 2007. “ This construction, these European funds, benefit the upper middle class, those who are in large city centers, who are connected, who have jobs… », explains Yann Caspar.
And if the comparison applies to the sociology of this part of the electorate, the class contempt to which it is subject also seems to be a constant. In France, they are called “ toothless »: in Romania, these are “ the tramps » and the “ functionally illiterate […] who don't understand what they read ”said Bucharest University spokesperson Bogdan Oprea, as reported by the newspaper Freedom.
We doubt that his words will calm the exasperation of a people who feel despised… And if nothing is certain about the possibility for Georgescu to stand again in the new elections in May, such a posture is not likely to make him popular the new coalition of the Romanian pro-European government.
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