Why the nationalist right is on the rise in Romania | TLDR News EU ▶️

November 21, 2023 | Right-wing party AUR’s popularity is rising in Romania in a shift that could hurt the country’s strong support for Ukraine during the war. So in this video, we’ll explore who AUR are, what they stand for and how they might influence Romanian politics.

The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (Romanian: Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor, AUR, meaning “gold” in Romanian) is a right-wing populist and nationalist political party active in Romania and Moldova.

Making news accessible for everyone. TLDR News is an independent online media group that focuses on making digital content about news and current affairs from all over the world. Starting in 2017, we focussed on explaining the biggest news events in the UK, namely Brexit.

Romanian Nationalist Leader Praises WWII Iron Guard ‘Martyr’

Madalina Necsutu – BalkanInsight, February 1, 2022

The head of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians party said the leader of the fascist-inspired World War II-era Iron Guard Movement did ‘good deeds’.

Matthew Heimbach (born 1991), an American white supremacist and neo-Nazi, sports a Codreanu t-shirt at a far-right rally.

Calin Georgescu, honorary president of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians, AUR, said on Monday evening that the leader of the fascist-inspired Iron Guard Movement, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, and Marshal Ion Antonescu, who led a dictatorship and was a Hitler collaborator during World War II, also did “good deeds” and characterised them as “martyrs”.

“I can’t have opinions about martyrs. Anyway, they are from our history and remain in our history,” Georgescu said during a political talk show aired by the Antena 3 TV station.

People who praise fascist, racist or xenophobic organisations, use their symbols, or promote people who have been found guilty of crimes against humanity, can be jailed for up to three years under changes to Romanian law signed by President Klaus Iohannis in July 2015.

The legislation also punishes denial of the Holocaust and the promotion of the Iron Guard.

Georgescu was asked about the Holocaust, in which Marshal Ion Antonescu was involved. The AUR party opposes the study of the Holocaust in Romanian schools… [+]

Israeli envoy meets head of Romanian party accused of antisemitism, drawing rebuke

Michael Bachner & Lazar Berman – Times of Israel, August 28, 2023

Foreign Ministry lifts ban on AUR party, which issues statement partly walking back glorification of fascists and objection to Holocaust studies; Yad Vashem: We weren’t consulted

Israel’s envoy to Romania met Monday with the head of a local right-wing party accused of antisemitism, breaking a boycott by Israel of the party, and drawing criticism from the Yad Vashem Holocaust center and Romanian political figures.

Ambassador Reuven Azar met George Simion, head of the populist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) opposition party, which currently holds 12 percent of parliament seats but is predicted by some to become a major political force in the near future.

The meeting at the parliament in Bucharest — approved by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen — was also attended by a prominent settler leader in the West Bank, Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who has been working to facilitate support for settlements among right-wing European parties.

AUR issued a statement as part of the sit-down that partly met a list of demands set by Yad Vashem as a condition for holding the meeting, and also backed Israel’s right to build in the settlements.

The nationalist, Christian party was formed in 2018 and rose to prominence with anti-vaccine positions during the COVID-19 pandemic. AUR called Holocaust education a “minor topic” in 2022 after it was mandated in Romanian high schools… [+]