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New day of protests nationwide against Calin Georgescu, anti-fascist and pro-European slogans chanted
Protesters took to the streets again on Wednesday evening in several cities across the country to demonstrate against the independent presidential candidate Calin Georgescu, with the common denominator being anti-legionary and anti-far-right chants.
Several hundred young people gathered on Wednesday evening în Bucharest, in Victoria Square, to protest against the result of the first round of the presidential elections.
They displayed banners with messages such as: "I want to stay in the country," "Codreanu and Antonescu are criminals, not heroes," "Pro-Europe," "No legionaries in power," "We want democracy."
The young people gathered following announcements posted on social media.
The Capital's Gendarmerie announced that, between November 27 and 29, from 7:00 PM to 11:00 PM, public gatherings were taking place both in Victoria Square and in University Square, and therefore measures will be taken to ensure a safe environment, public order, and the protection of participants.
One public gathering is organised by a group of students from Bucharest in Victoria Square, while the other is organised by the Romanian People's Patriots Party in University Square, near the fountain, as announced by the Capital's Gendarmerie.
"We emphasise that these protests were declared today, November 27, but they were not authorised by the Public Gatherings Authorisation Commission of the Bucharest City Hall, as the requests were not submitted within the required time frame according to current legislation, in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of Law no. 60/1991 (revised) regarding the organisation and conduct of public gatherings, with subsequent amendments and completions. In this context, even though the organisation of these two public gatherings does not comply with the legal requirements explained above, we stress the importance of dialogue and good cooperation between the organiser, participants, and law enforcement, in order to carry out the events without risks to public order and safety," the Gendarmerie's statement reads.
*** IASI
For the third night in a row, hundreds of citizens of Iasi came out in Unirii Square to show their displeasure with Calin Georgescu and the far right.
People of all ages, most of them young, chanted "The Country from Georgescu, United, We Save!", "Romania is Smart, We Do Not vote for the far-right!", "A country as one abroad is not legionary!", "My Body, My decision!", "A Progressive Romania, Not a Country like Putin's", "Parents, grandparents, don't let yourselves be lied to".
Some of the protesters displayed placards with messages such as "Our fathers fought for a dictatorship to fall! We are fighting so that another one does not rise", "In 89 people died for an ideal, to live in a democracy, not in a legionary state", "The sleep of reason gives birth to monsters", "We do not vote for a legionary".
"I took to the streets many years ago. In the period when Dragnea ruled I stayed for months, week after week, here in the square. It seems that we didn't solve anything. We are losing the country to the Russians for several generations. We still have a chance to fix it, to do something. The Georgescu alternative is a disaster, it means selling the country. My grandparents lived through hard times, my parents lived through bad times, I don't want my children to live through them. Something like this cannot happen. We need to do it in such a way that the Russian boot is off our necks. These children don't understand Russia. Russia is a disaster," said one of the protesters.
*** TIMISOARA
In Timisoara, too, several hundred young people returned to the Opera Square to protest the results of the first round of the presidential elections.
Compared to the previous evening, the number of participants has decreased, a fact also noted by those who spoke.
"Yesterday evening there were more of us, we felt we were speaking from the heart. Tonight, we are fewer. (...). We are here to defend democracy," said two of the speakers.
The protesters had short speeches, in which they talked about the December 1989 Revolution, about "cyber attacks used by one of the candidates", about ERASMUS+ scholarships, about freedom and about the possibility of canceling Sunday's elections.
"Second round vote, but be informed!" was the call from some of the speakers. "We want a country like outside, not a legionary country!", "We want unity!", "Women also produce, not just reproduce!", were some of the slogans chanted.
On the banners were messages such as "For rights and honor, we don't want hate or terror!", "No extremism, we want progressivism!", "We are the voice of those who are no more!".
Speakers urged vigilance in the coming period.
*** CLUJ
More than 1,000 young people, mainly students, gathered in front of the Cluj Prefecture under the slogan "Manifesto for democracy".
They chanted, among other things, "The Love of Country is Not Legionary", "Democracy, not tyranny", "To all young people, I'm telling you in one voice: do not vote for a dictator", "Warning, Anti-fascist Warning".
They also carried banners and posters with messages such as "Europe", "I don't want to leave my country", "I am afraid in my country", "Educated young people don't vote fascists and legionaries", along with flags of Romania and the European Union.
"Our demonstration is strictly for democratic purposes, we want to show people that we are fighting for democracy and that we understand all the dangers to which we are exposed at the moment. We do not want to bring accusations against any candidate, we do not want to spread hatred against anyone, we just want young people and all Romanians to inform themselves from this point of view and in the second round to make the right choice for their country," said Alexandra Stefania Oleacu, one of the organizers.
The event is scheduled to resume on Thursday at the same time.