Force of the Right (, FD), sometimes translated as Right's Force or Right Force, is a

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

political party in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

founded in December 2021 by Ludovic Orban, former National Liberal Party (PNL) president and former

prime minister of Romania The prime minister of Romania (), officially the prime minister of the Government of Romania (), is the head of the Government of Romania, Government of Romania. Initially, the office was styled ''President of the Council of Ministers'' (), when ...

between 2019 and 2020, in opposition to the current leadership of the PNL which is currently officially led by

Nicolae Ciucă Nicolae Ionel Ciucă (; born 22 September 1967) is a Romanian politician and retired general of the Romanian Land Forces. Ideologically a conservative, he served as Prime Minister of Romania between 25 November 2021 and 12 June 2023 after receiv ...

and unofficially by

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former teacher who served as the fifth president of Romania from 2014 until his resignation in 2025. Prior to entering Politics of Romania, national politics, ...

History

On 3 October 2021, former Romanian prime minister Ludovic Orban, who had been previously defeated for the leadership of the National Liberal Party (PNL) by

Florin Cîțu Florin Vasile Cîțu (; born 1 April 1972) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania between December 2020 and November 2021 (acting/ad interim between October and November 2021). Sometimes labeled as Romania's first liber ...

at the PNL congress held in September 2021 at Romexpo 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 ...

, stated that he is willing "to create a new political construction which would be ready to continue PNL's legacy". In this regard, Orban was walking in the steps of another former PNL Prime Minister, more specifically

Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu Călin Constantin Anton Popescu-Tăriceanu (; born 14 January 1952) is a Romanian politician who served as Prime Minister of Romania, prime minister of Romania from 2004 to 2008. He was also president of the National Liberal Party (Romania), Na ...

, who left the PNL earlier in 2015 (also in opposition to Iohannis) in order to establish the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE). Furthermore, commentators claimed Orban's faction was going to part ways with the PNL should he not be designated PM after

's dismissal by the Parliament, which also happened in the meantime along with the nominations of former PM

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian Agronomy, agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development (Romania), A ...

Save Romania Union The Save Romania Union (, USR) is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Romania, political party in Romania. It is the fourth-largest party in the Parliament of Romania, holding 40 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber ...

(USR) and

of PNL proper (the latter serving as acting PM between Orban's and Cîțu's premierships/terms). By 2 November 2021, Orban together with 14 other parliamentarians left the PNL parliamentary group. In response, the current leadership of the PNL announced its intention to exclude from the party everyone taking this move, emphasizing that "the door of PNL is closed to those who make fun of PNL". On 12 November 2021, the current leadership of the PNL expelled Orban at the proposal of Dan Vîlceanu, a supporter of

. By 23 November 2021, the pro-Orban parliamentarians who left the PNL parliamentary group left the party itself as well, being followed in this move by the entirety of the National Liberal Youth (the PNL's youth wing)'s Sector 3 branch on 27 November 2021. Orban said that he rejects all

neo-Marxist Neo-Marxism is a collection of Marxist schools of thought originating from 20th-century approaches to amend or extend Marxism and Marxist theory, typically by incorporating elements from other intellectual traditions such as critical theory, ps ...

- progressive currents, and that the new party will be

liberal conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

. Originally, the party was going to be named the Liberal Force (, FL). On 14 December 2021, Orban submitted the documents necessary in order to establish the new party, which was then going to be named after the name of his motion used to run for a second term as PNL president at the September 2021 PNL congress, more specifically the Right's Force/Force of the Right, that will be "valid until the irstcongress of the party". Orban said the Force of the Right is 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 ...

party, which is not

anti-establishment An anti-establishment view or belief is one which stands in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society. The term was first used in the modern sense in 1958 by the British magazine ''New Statesman'' ...

, and which wants to join the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

(EPP). In February 2022, the parliamentary group of right-wing deputies was established to represent FD in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

, with Violeta Alexandru as its leader.Apariție nouă în Parlamentul României. Partidul care își înființează grup la Camera Deputaților
/ref> On 14 December 2023,

, Force of the Right and the

People's Movement Party The People's Movement Party (, PMP) is an extra-parliamentary national-conservative and social conservative political party in Romania. History The PMP was created as a political foundation in March 2013 by supporters of then incumbent sta ...

officially announced the creation of a

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

to contest in the 2024 elections. On 18 December, the alliance was formally named as United Right Alliance.

Leadership

Electoral history

Legislative elections

; Notes ¹

Presidential elections

European elections

Note:
¹ ADU members: USR (2 MEPs), PMP (1 MEP) and FD (no mandates).

Notes

References

{{Romanian political parties Conservative parties in Romania Liberal parties in Romania Romanian nationalist parties Political parties established in 2021 2021 establishments in Romania Christian democratic parties in Europe National liberal parties Liberal conservative parties Conservative liberal parties Pro-European political parties in Romania Nationalist parties in Romania Right-wing populist parties