Protests took place across Romania from December 2024 to May 2025 in response to the

Constitutional Court A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established ru ...

's December 2024 unprecedented decision to invalidate the country's

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

on 6 December 2024. The controversy began when

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

Călin Georgescu Călin Georgescu (; born 26 March 1962) is a Romanian far-right politician and agronomist. He has long worked in the field of sustainable development, and served as President of the European Research Centre for the Club of Rome (2013–2015). G ...

unexpectedly won the election's first round on 24 November, prompting the Constitutional Court to state that Georgescu's campaign involved Russian interference and electoral irregularities. Romanian prosecutors launched criminal investigations against Georgescu for supporting fascist groups and electoral violations, while authorities rescheduled the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

for May 2025. Throughout December 2024 to March 2025, Pro-Georgescu and anti-government protests escalated in scale and intensity, with tens of thousands gathering in Bucharest during January and March rallies organised by the far-right

Alliance for the Unity of Romanians The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (, AUR) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Romania and Moldova. It was founded in 2019 ahead of the 2020 Romanian local elections, 2020 Romanian local and 2020 Romanian legisl ...

(AUR) party. Led by party leader

George Simion George Nicolae Simion (; born 21 September 1986) is a Romanian politician and civic activist. He is the founder and chairman of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), the second largest party in both houses of parliament since 2024 Rom ...

, protesters demanded the resumption of elections, accused the government of uprooting democratic principles, and called for

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Marcel Ciolacu Ion Marcel Ciolacu (; born 28 November 1967) is a Romanian politician who served as the prime minister of Romania from 2023 to 2025. He was the leader of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD). As a previously littl ...

's resignation.

Background

On 24 November,

candidate

unexpectedly came first in the election's first round. The surprise outcome immediately sparked allegations of electoral irregularities and potential foreign interference from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Electoral authorities conducted a recount of votes amid growing controversy and protests. Following the election's first round, over one thousand young Romanians assembled in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

's University Square to demonstrate against Georgescu's victory, shouting slogans such as "

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

, don't forget, Romania is not yours". The remarks were in reference to his prior statements describing Putin as "a man who loves his country." and him describing

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

as "an invented state." Despite these concerns, preparations continued for a scheduled 8 December runoff election between the top candidates. However, in an unprecedented move on 6 December 2024, two days before the planned runoff, Romania's Constitutional Court abruptly annulled the entire election. This extraordinary decision plunged the nation into political uncertainty and triggered widespread public outrage. When publishing its ruling, the Constitutional Court justified the election's annulment by citing several alleged violations found in declassified intelligence. Chief among these were claims regarding illegal utilisation of digital technologies such as

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

during the campaign. The court referenced the employment of "undeclared sources" of campaign funding, noting that Georgescu had officially reported zero campaign expenditures. The court also reported Russian

cyberattack A cyberattack (or cyber attack) occurs when there is an unauthorized action against computer infrastructure that compromises the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of its content. The rising dependence on increasingly complex and inte ...

s targeting Romanian electoral systems. Many

political analysts Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and laws ...

pointed to Georgescu's significant

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

presence as a key factor in his unexpected success. His

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

account had amassed over 646,000 followers and 7.2 million likes, raising suspicions among some experts and government officials that his online following may have been artificially inflated. Romania's national security apparatus further alleged that TikTok had granted Georgescu preferential treatment compared to other presidential candidates. Georgescu mounted several legal challenges against the Constitutional Court's decision. He filed an appeal through Romania's domestic court system while simultaneously submitting a complaint to the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

, seeking international judicial review of the situation. Following the Constitutional Court's decision, Romanian authorities established new dates for a complete electoral redo, scheduled for 4 May 2025, with a potential runoff planned for 18 May 2025. It was not clarified by officials whether Georgescu would be permitted to participate in the rescheduled electoral process. On 26 February 2025, Romanian prosecutors initiated a criminal investigation into Georgescu's electoral actions. The charges included "

incitement In criminal law, incitement is the encouragement of another person to commit a crime. Depending on the jurisdiction, some or all types of incitement may be illegal. Where illegal, it is known as an inchoate offense, where harm is intended but ma ...

to actions against the constitutional order," support of

fascist Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...

organisations, involvement behind

s targeting Romanian electoral systems, and submitting false declarations regarding asset disclosures and campaign financing. According to Georgescu's legal representatives, prosecutors placed him under judicial oversight.

Protests

December 2024

On 8 December 2024, more than one hundred supporters of Georgescu assembled at voting stations across Romania to protest the unprecedented cancellation of the country's presidential runoff election. The demonstrations occurred on the same day the second round of voting had been scheduled to take place. Protesters shouting slogans including "Down with dictatorship," "We want to vote," and "Thieves." Georgescu personally attended the demonstration, claiming he had come to the closed polling station "in the name of democracy" while accusing authorities of cancelling the elections out of fear he would win. Later that same day, Simion,

(AUR) party leader, organised a smaller demonstration at another Bucharest polling station. Approximately two dozen supporters joined Simion, some holding candles and displaying printed signboards with messages including "Stop the dictatorship." During this gathering, Simion addressed reporters, stating: "We are here today to light this candle for democracy in Romania, to say that the Romanian people is sovereign and to oppose a dictatorship." Outside of Romania, dozens of Romanian citizens also gathered at several Romanian embassies throughout Europe to protest the election's cancellation.

January 2025

2025 Romanian protest against annulment of presidential election

On 12 January, tens of thousands of demonstrators assembled at 2 p.m. on Bucharest's University Square, spreading out to other sites with 200 protesting around Victory Square at 10:30 p.m. The demonstration was organised by the AUR party. Simion characterised the Constitutional Court's decision as "a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

that took place on 6 December." He further stated: "We are sorry to discover so late that we were living in a lie and that we were led by people who claimed to be democrats, but are not at all." The AUR party's official demand, as articulated by Simion during the protest, called for the presidential race to resume from the already-completed first round, rather than restarting the entire electoral process. Protesters conveyed their discontent through various slogans including "Democracy is not optional" and "We want free elections." A particular demand frequently voiced throughout the crowd was for authorities to resume the presidential election from the already-completed first round rather than restarting the entire electoral process, with a large banner reading "Give us back the second round!". Some protesters played

vuvuzela The vuvuzela is a horn with an inexpensive injection-moulded plastic shell about long, which produces a loud monotone note typically around B♭ 3 (the first B♭ below middle C). Some models are made in two parts to facilitate storage, ...

s, while others wore traditional Romanian clothing and displayed

religious symbol A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion. Religious symbols have been used in the military in many countries, such as the United States military chap ...

s, including flags depicting

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. Other demonstrators were filmed and photographed honking horns, carrying Romania's flag, and displaying placards with messages advocating for

democratic principles Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

. Protesters also called for

's resignation. Security forces, including

gendarmes A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (). In France and som ...

, maintained a visible presence throughout the demonstration to ensure public safety while allowing the protest to proceed. A police report stated that while the demonstrations were peaceful, law enforcement had to arrest three protesters due to illegal possession of knives or other forbidden items.

February 2025

On 22 February, several thousand demonstrators gathered in central Bucharest outside the

Romanian Parliament The Parliament of Romania () is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, the capital. Prior to the modification of the Cons ...

building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

to express support for Georgescu and to condemn the annulment of the 2024 Romanian election. The far-right AUR maintained a visible presence at the 22 February protest, with party representatives actively collecting signatures to support his candidacy in the upcoming rescheduled election. Many protesters carried signs with messages directly endorsing Georgescu's candidacy, including slogans including "President Georgescu". Others carried Romanian flags, religious symbols, and placards expressing gratitude toward

United States Vice President The vice president of the United States (VPOTUS) is the second-highest ranking office in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The ...

JD Vance James David Vance (born James Donald Bowman, August2, 1984) is an American politician, author, attorney, and Marine Corps veteran who is the 50th vice president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republic ...

. The placards were in reference to Vance's

statements Statement or statements may refer to: Common uses *Statement (computer science), the smallest standalone element of an imperative programming language * Statement (logic and semantics), declarative sentence that is either true or false *Statement, ...

at the

Munich Security Conference The Munich Security Conference (MSC), formerly Munich Conference on Security Policy, is an annual conference on international security policy that has been held in Munich, Germany, since 1963. Over the past four decades the Munich Security Con ...

strongly condemning Romania's choice to annul the election as undemocratic, akin to

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-era practices, and coming from external influences in the European Union. Georgescu briefly attended the demonstration to march along with and greet supporters.

March 2025

On 1 March, tens of thousands of demonstrators converged in Bucharest for a major anti-government rally organised by far-right political groups. The March demonstration specifically targeted

's administration while expressing support for Georgescu. Protesters chanted slogans including "Down with the Government" and "Thieves," and carried images of Georgescu. Several demonstrators went around placing cardboard cutouts depicting Prime Minister Ciolacu into garbage containers. The demonstration occurred just one day after an unsuccessful

no-confidence vote A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fit ...

in Romania's parliament. The motion, supported by AUR alongside two additional far-right opposition parties, had attempted but failed to remove Ciolacu's

pro-Western The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

formed following

parliamentary elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

held on 1 December 2024. AUR party leader Simion organised the protest, claiming that democracy in Romania had been "trampled on". When speaking with journalists, Simion explicitly characterised the protest's objectives as efforts to "restore democracy and free elections" while demanding Prime Minister Ciolacu's resignation. He expressed skepticism regarding the integrity of upcoming electoral processes.

Party of Young People The Party of Young People (; POT, ) is a political party in Romania, founded by MP Anamaria Gavrilă, who had previously left the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). POT supported the candidacy of independent Călin Georgescu in the 202 ...

leader

Anamaria Gavrilă Anamaria Gavrilă (born 15 October 1983) is a Romanian politician of the Party of Young People. Since 2020, she has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies. She was a member of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians until 2021, and founded the ...

also spoke at the protest. Georgescu personally attended the 1 March demonstration. During his appearance, he addressed the gathered crowd, claiming that "the system has maliciously tried to divide us" and alleging that "old and new cronies tried to block my candidacy." Georgescu required assistance in leaving the stage after delivering his remarks. Law enforcement and

riot police Riot police are police who are organized, deployed, trained or equipped to confront crowds, protests or riots. Riot police may be regular police officers who act in the role of riot police in particular situations, or they may be separate unit ...

were positioned around the protest area. Reports indicated that the police maintained effective

crowd management Crowd control is a public security practice in which large crowds are managed in order to prevent the outbreak of crowd crushes, affray, fights involving drunk and disorderly people or riots. Crowd crushes in particular can cause many hundre ...

protocols due to there being no significant reported confrontations between protesters and security forces. Foreign right-wing nationalist politicians also addressed the 1 March rally, including Bulgarian Revival leader Kostadin Kostadinov, Spanish Vox MEP Hermann Tertsch and Polish

Law and Justice Law and Justice ( , PiS) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative List of political parties in Poland, political party in Poland. The party is a member of European Conservatives and Refo ...

MEP

Ryszard Czarnecki Richard Henry Czarnecki (, born 25 January 1963 pol. Ryszard Henryk Czarnecki) is a Polish politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Poland. He is a member of the Law and Justice, part of the European Conservatives an ...

. On 9 March, Georgescu's candidacy was rejected which led to new protests. On 11 March, The Right Alternative declared its support for the protests. Having announced to do so two days prior, Simion arrived to the Central Electoral Bureau (CEB) on 14 March accompanied by former Polish prime minister

Mateusz Morawiecki Mateusz Jakub Morawiecki (; born 20 June 1968) is a Polish economist, historian and politician who served as the prime minister of Poland between 2017 and 2023. A member of the Law and Justice (PiS) party, he previously served in the Cabinet of ...

to file his candidacy for president after collecting 604,000 signatures, above the minimum requirement of 200,000. The CEB approved his candidacy on the following day, which was also the deadline for candidates to register, with Simion stating "We passed the BEC, now let's see if we pass the CCR and return to democracy". The CCR validated his candidacy one day later as well as the ones of

Nicușor Dan Nicușor Daniel Dan (; born 20 December 1969) is a Romanian politician, mathematician, and civic activist serving as the sixth president of Romania since 2025. He previously served as the mayor of Bucharest from 2020 to 2025 and as a member of ...

and

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...

. Final confirmation that Simion would be allowed to run was given on 19 March, as the CCR rejected all appeals against his candidacy as well as those against Gavrilă. On the same, Gavrilă withdrew her candidacy, endorsing Simion. A final list of all 11 candidates was released on the following day. On March 15, a

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...

counterprotest was organized in Bucharest and other cities in Romania. It is estimated that more than 15,000 people participated, according to

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) is a media organization broadcasting news and analyses in 27 languages to 23 countries across Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. Headquartered in Prague since 1995, RFE/RL ...

. Protests ended on 26 May, the day

was inaugurated as 5th

President of Romania The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

References

{{Riots, protests and civil disorder in Romanian territory Protests in Romania History of Romania (1989–present) 2024 in Romania 2024 protests 2025 in Romania 2025 protests 2020s in Bucharest Protests in the European Union 2024 controversies 2025 controversies Corruption in Romania Euroscepticism in Romania