Anger Rising in Romania: 450 Demonstrators Injured

Since Friday, Romania has been facing massive crowds speaking up against corruption and demanding the government to resign. Each evening, tens of thousands of people take to the street. Anticorruption rallies are not new in Romania, but this one is specific: demonstrators are mostly Romanian emigrants who usually live abroad.

They came back to Romania to organize a demonstration as an answer to PSD (Social Democratic Party) officials’ statements. Recently, these officials described expats as “thieves”, “beggars” and “prostitutes” who work to destabilize Romania.

For 15 years, 4 million people have left one of the European Uion’s poorest country, with an average income of € 520 per month. Romania remains also one of the most corrupted countries of the EU.

The demonstrations went wrong, when some rioters attempted to storm the Romanian Government building. Police used water cannons and teargas to disperse demonstrators. More than 450 people were injured whose 30 policemen.

The center-right president, Klaus Iohannis, opposed to the left government, sharply criticized the “brutal intervention of the police, which was disproportionate to the attitude of most demonstrators”.

By Antoine Dewaest

Photo : AFP