Alliance for the Union of Romanians Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | AUR |
| President | George Simion |
| General Secretary | Titus Păunescu |
| President of the Senate of AUR in Romania | Sorin Lavric |
| Leader in theSenate of Romania | Petrișor Peiu |
| Leader in theChamber of Deputies | Mihai Enache |
| Party Leader inMoldova | Boris Volosatîi |
| Vice-President | Marius Lulea Valeriu Munteanu |
| Founders | |
| Founded | 19 September 2019 (Romania) 27 March 2021 (Moldova) |
| Youth wing | Tineret AUR (TAUR) |
| Charity and workers wing | Frăția Ortodoxă [ro][1] (2019–2022) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing tofar-right |
| Religion | Romanian Orthodox Church |
| National affiliation | AUR Alliance |
| European affiliation | European Conservatives and Reformists Party[24] |
| European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists Group |
| Colours | Gold |
| Slogan | Dreptate pentru România ('Justice for Romania') |
| Senate | 28 / 134 |
| Chamber of Deputies | 61 / 330 |
| European Parliament | 3 / 33 |
| Mayors (Romania) | 30 / 3,176 |
| County Councilors (Romania) | 159 / 1,340 |
| Local Council Councilors (Romania) | 3,527 / 39,900 |
| Parliament of Moldova | 0 / 101 |
| District Presidents (Moldova) | 0 / 32 |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| partidulaur.ro | |
TheAlliance for the Union of Romanians (Romanian:Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor,AUR) is aright-wing populist political party inRomania andMoldova. It was founded in 2019 ahead of the2020 Romanian local andparliamentary elections. The party president isGeorge Simion. The party ran in the local elections, obtaining less than 1% nationwide. However, in the parliamentary election, AUR won 9% of the vote, thus becoming the fourth-largest party in the country at the central level, which surprised observers. In the2024 parliamentary election, the party received 18% of the vote, becoming the second largest party.
AUR's stated goal is the unification of allRomanians, in practice meaning advocacy for aunification of Moldova and Romania,[25] and support of theRomanian diaspora abroad. It has been described as supportinganti-vaccination ideas and beingfascist,[26][27][28][29][30]Magyarophobic,[31][32][10]conservative,[5][6]pro-Russian,[33][34][35][36] andpro-Israel.[37] The party states that its four main pillars are "family,nation,Christian faith, andliberty". The party has been described as beingright-wing,[38][39][40] as well asfar-right.[41][42][43]
The Alliance for the Union of Romanians was formally established on 19 September 2019.[44] Later, during theGreat Union Day ofRomania on 1 December 2019, its leader,George Simion, said the party's aims were to participate in the2020 Romanian local andlegislative elections of the country.[45] Simion had up to this point been a campaigner for theunification of Romania and the Republic of Moldova.[10]Claudiu Târziu, who was co-president of the party along Simion until 27 March 2022,[46] was a member ofCoalition for the Family which unsuccessfully campaigned to ban gay marriage through constitutional change in a2018 referendum.[47][48]
On 26 June 2020, AUR condemned the disinterest of the Romanian authorities regarding theminority rights of theRomanians inSerbia and Ukraine and declared that it would fully support them once it entered theRomanian Parliament.[49] Two days later, AUR also condemned the 80th anniversary of theannexation ofBessarabia,Northern Bukovina, and theHertsa region by theSoviet Union, declaring that "it is our obligation to regain our state".[50] By July 2020, AUR counted 22 branches in Europe and North America for theRomanian diaspora.[51] The first of these was established inWolverhampton, in the United Kingdom.[52] AUR was the only party in Romania that expressed support forDonald Trump in the lead-up to the2020 United States presidential election.[53]
During the2020 Romanian local elections on 27 September, AUR won themayoralty in three towns:Amara,Pufești, andValea Lungă.[54]
In the 2020 Romanian legislative election, AUR obtained a high percentage of the votes, being called as the "surprise" of Romania. The results also increased the popularity of the party on theInternet.[10][55][56] The party came first amongRomanians in Italy, the largest group of the Romanian diaspora, and ran a close second amongRomanians in France andRomanians in Spain. It also scored first inCyprus.[57] AUR's candidate for prime minister wasCălin Georgescu, who worked for theUnited Nations for 17 years.[58] According to a statement released by AUR on 8 December 2020, 15,000 Romanians joined the party in just 24 hours. The party got 47 MPs in the 2020–2024 Romanian legislature.[59]
The party achieved good results in rural areas ofMoldavia andDobruja, areas traditionally dominated by the other big parties. Its most significant percentages were in the counties where theRomanian Orthodox Church has a strong influence and a large number of practicing believers. These areSuceava (14.72%),Botoșani (14.62%),Neamț (14.4%),Constanța (14.2%), andVrancea (13.43%).[60] The party speculated the new communication channels (social networks) in a similar way to theGreater Romania Party (PRM) of the late 1990s - early 2000s, which used the newspaper "România Mare" (Greater Romania) as a communication channel, reaching high electoral scores. Another example is thePeople's Party – Dan Diaconescu (PP-DD), which was propelled with the help of theOTV television channel.[60]
Recorder, a Romanian online publisher, argues that the election campaign of AUR has adapted to the rural environment, which lacks modern technology, relying more on messages desired by the masses than on a coherent ideology. In this way, they argue, in addition to a core of supporters who voted for radical messages, there is also the wider category of electorate strictly attracted by populist messages.[60]
On 22 January 2021, Simion announced that the party would officially adhere at European level to the "European Conservatives and Reformists Party" after going on visits in Poland andBrussels, Belgium.[61] Simion announced on 15 March 2021 that the AUR had intentions to start operating in theRepublic of Moldova on the occasion of theDay of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania celebrated every 27 March.[62] The party was officially launched, as previously stated, on 27 March 2021, and the elected president of the party was Vlad Bilețchi, a renowned Moldovan unionist.[63] This new section of the AUR in Moldova later participated in theMoldovan snap parliamentary elections of 11 July 2021.[64]
On 2 October 2021, AUR organised a 15,000–20,000 people-strong protest againstCOVID-19 restrictions at theVictory Square in Bucharest, drawing both national and international attention and being the most attended protest in Romania since the start of the pandemic.[65][66] On 5 October 2021, amotion of no confidence initiated by AUR, but legally proposed by PSD, was passed with 281 votes, thus dismissing theCîțu Cabinet.[67]
On 27 March 2022, AUR held its first party congress at thePalace of the Parliament. On it, it was intended to elect the party's president. There were two candidates, Simion and Dănuț Aelenei, AUR deputy in the Constanța County. Aelenei claimed to have nominated himself with the simple intention of showing that AUR was a democratic party and that he did not intend to "expel" Simion from the party, admitting that he was less well-known compared to him. 784 voted for Simion and 38 for Aelenei, making Simion the party's sole president after having previously shared leadership with Târziu, who became president of the party's CNC.[46] In November 2022, Simion met with Israel's ambassador to Romania, Reuven Azar. The encounter drew outrage from some Israelis and diaspora Jews, as AUR is officially boycotted by Israel due to its history of judeophobia.[68][69]
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On 14 November 2023, at an AUR press conference,Lidia Vadim-Tudor (the daughter of the lateCorneliu Vadim Tudor), former Minister for Business EnvironmentIlan Laufer (who is also the president of theNational Identity Force), businessmanMuhammad Murad, entrepreneurSorin Constantinescu andSorin Ilieșiu, as well as deputiesFlorică Calotă (who was elected on PNL list),Daniel Forea (elected on PSD list),Dumitru Viorel Focșa (elected on AUR, but later left) and senatorsOvidiu Iosif Florean (elected on PNL list),Călin Gheorghe Matieș (elected on PSD list) andVasilică Potecă (elected on PNL list) announced that they are joining AUR for the next election.[70] Later, on 21 November, AUR announced, together with theRomanian Village Party,National Rebirth Alliance,Romanian Republican Party andNational Peasants' Alliance the creation of a Sovereigntist Alliance to contest the2024 Romanian parliamentary election.[71][72]
In the2024 European Parliament Election, AUR gained five seats in the EU Parliament, with a total of 6 seats, receiving 14.9% of the total votes.[73] AUR previously held only 1 seat in the European Parliament.[74] In the party's firstlocal elections on 9 June 2024, AUR gained 10.7% for county councils and 9.5% for local councils.
Presidential elections and second legislature (2024–present)
In the first round of the2024 Romanian presidential election on 24 November, Simion received 13.9% of the vote, not preceding to the planned runoff on 8 December. However, the runoff was never held as due toaccusations of Russian interference in favour of first round winnerCălin Georgescu. In the2024 parliamentary election a week later, AUR received 18% of the vote, becoming the second largest party in both houses of the Romanian Parliament.[75]
The aftermath of the first presidential vote was controversial and ledRomania to the brink of a political crisis,[76] with AUR aligning itself with Georgescu, arrangingprotests in his favour.[77]
Simion won the first round of the2025 presidential election on 4 May with 41% of the vote, losing the runoff on 18 May to Independent candidateNicușor Dan with 46.4 % against Dan's 53.6%.[78]
The party claims it is acentre-right,[79]patriotic,[80] andChristian democratic party.[81]
AUR is young as a party, but it didn't come out of nowhere. It brings together some people whose history is linked to thelate period of communism. Its candidates are experts inpropaganda, intellectuals with more or less open sympathy forlegionnaires and legionary or pro-legionary intellectuals, businessmen and itinerant politicians who wander from one radical party to another.
According to the party's website, AUR's ultimate goal is to achieve the unification of all Romanians "wherever they are located, inBucharest,Iași,Timișoara,Cernăuți,Timoc,Voivodina, Italy, or Spain", while wanting to unite Romania andMoldova together, as well as land with Romanian speakers in neighboring countries.[83] The party has been calledirredentist.[28] The website names four pillars for the party:family,nation,Christian faith, andliberty.[39][48] The party characterises its members as "the defenders of the Church".[53] It is opposed to "gender ideology" and believes that a nation has no chance of surviving "unless it cultivates the original pattern of the classic family".[40]
The party's representatives became popular onsocial media as a result of their positioning against measures taken by the government during theCOVID-19 pandemic. Leading members, such as Șoșoacă (later expelled), gained thousands of followers. AUR has been described as supporting "anti-medicine, anti-vaccination" rhetoric.[48] This accusation was rejected by George Simion, president of AUR, claiming that the party supports the "freedom of choice".[84] The party's manifesto opposessecularism and condemnsatheism, and claims thatChristians are persecuted in Romania.[42] The party has been critical of the impact of thelocal autonomy of Hungarians in Romania on the rights of ethnic Romanians in the centre of the country (where theHungarians are the majority),[40] leading to accusations of beingMagyarophobic.[10] The latter accusation was rejected by the president of AUR,[85] and the party denounced the media, accusing media outlets of spreading false information about its campaign.[citation needed]
Simion has citedLaw and Justice andFidesz, the ruling parties in Poland and Hungary respectively, as some of his models.[86][87]
Despite this, AUR has also expressed deep criticism of Fidesz, stating that it would not join the same group in theEuropean Parliament as Fidesz, due to its claims on Romanianterritory.[88] However, AUR later reversed its stance, expressing openness to Fidesz joining theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists.[89]
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AUR wishes to position Romania as a leader in central and eastern Europe within theEuropean Union and to integrate the Republic of Moldova into Romania,[5][6][90] whilst also beingEurosceptic.[6][91] The party is pro-NATO and views the integration of Moldova into Romania as strengthening NATO's eastern flank.[40]
The party also takes a strongly pro-Israel stance, supporting the expansion ofIsraeli colonies in the PalestinianWest Bank,[37] which areillegal under international law. It supports theSerbian stance on thepolitical status of Kosovo, considering Kosovo to be part of Serbia.[92]
By 2023, the party had become critical of Romanian military support for Ukraine in theRusso-Ukrainian War, suggesting that the war is "not ours". AUR also criticised the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through Romania, and Simion has been banned from entering Ukraine.[93] Nevertheless, the party leadership is critical of relations with Russia, with Simion calling for the expulsion of the Russian Ambassador and closing Russian consulates in Romania following Russian threats against Romania in December 2023.[94]
Simion has called for Western nations to "stop exporting wars", suggesting that the downfall of the "strong Syrian state" during theSyrian Civil War had increased illegal immigration.[95]
AUR wishes to ensure Romania's self-sufficiency in energy, the prosecution of those deemed responsible for mismanaged post-Communistprivatisation projects, and a fight againstillegal logging by banning the export of non-processed wood.[86] Additionally, AUR wishes to reform and modernise the education system, with a focus on reducing the overhead of political administration in order to improve the quality and the availability of education in Romania.[citation needed] The party has a senate, which is equivalent to the National Executive Committee of other Romanian parties such as the PSD, theNational Liberal Party (PNL), and theSave Romania Union (USR).[96]
| Nº | Name Born - Died | Portrait | Term start | Term end | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George Simion (1986–) |  | 1 December 2019 | 27 March 2022 | 2 years, 3 months and 26 days |
| Claudiu Târziu (1973–) | .jpg) | 1 December 2019 | 27 March 2022 | ||
| (1) | George Simion (1986–) | .jpg) | 27 March 2022 | Incumbent | 3 years, 3 months and 6 days |
| Election | Chamber | Senate | Position | Aftermath | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| 20201 | 535,828 | 9.08 | 33 / 330 | 541,935 | 9.17 | 14 / 136 | 4th | Opposition toPNL-USR PLUS-UDMR government (2020–2021) |
| Opposition toPNL-UDMR minority government (2021) | ||||||||
| Opposition toCNR government (2021–2024) | ||||||||
| 2024 | 1,665,143 | 18.01 | 63 / 331 | 1,694,705 | 18.30 | 28 / 136 | 2nd | Opposition toPSD-PNL-UDMR minority government (2024–present) |
Notes:
11 senator and 4 deputies fromNR were elected on AUR's list[97]
| Election | County Councilors (CJ) | Mayors | Local Councilors (CL) | Popular vote | % | Position | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | ||||
| 2020 | 71,022 | 0.99 | 0 / 1,340 | 26,596 | 0.33 | 3 / 3,176 | 35,797 | 0.45 | 79 / 39,900 | 71,022 | 0.99 | 12th |
| 2024 | 843,734 | 10.70 | 159 / 1,340 | 549.306 | 6.26 | 30 / 3,176 | 829,365 | 9.53 | 3,527 / 39,739 | 843,734 | 10.70 | 3rd (withinAUR Alliance) |
| Election | Candidate | First round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percentage | Position | ||
| 2020 | Claudiu Târziu | 4,445 | 0.67% | 7th |
| 2024[98] | Mihai Enache | 22,209 | 3.04% | 5th |
| Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percentage | Position | Votes | Percentage | Position | ||
| 2024 | George Simion | 1,281,325 | 13.86% | 4th | Annulled | ||
| 2025 | George Simion | 3,862,761 | 40.96% | 1st | 5,339,053 | 46.40% | 2nd |
| Election | Votes | % | MEPs | Position | EU Party | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 1,334,905 | 14.93 | 5 / 33 | 2nd (withinAUR Alliance)1 | ECR | ECR |
Note:
1AUR Alliance members: AUR (5 MEPs),PNRC (1 MEP) and the other party members did not achieved any mandates (ARN, PRR and BUN).
| Election | Parliament | Position | Aftermath | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | |||
| 2021 | 7,216 | 0.49 | 0 / 101 | 10th | Extra-parliamentary |
However, the extreme right-wing nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party is gaining ground.AUR has a pro-Russian stance, and one of its policies is the unification of all Romanians in one state, including those in the northern Bukovina region, which is part of Ukraine.
In parallel, the media chronicled a vast constellation of AUR members with a record of avowedly pro-Russian positions in the public sphere.
Simion, said Târziu, was persona non grata in Chisinau and Kyiv because of his irredentism on uniting all Romanian speakers into a "Greater Romania".
But according to a top new MEP in AUR, which now has six seats in the European Parliament and joined the ECR last week, Orbán is still welcome in the group. "We've always advocated for a big group", Claudiu Târziu told Playbook's Nick Vinocur, adding that the problem was a lack of communication with Fidesz.
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