Democratic Forum of Germans in Romania Forumul Democrat al Germanilor din România Demokratisches Forum der Deutschen in Rumänien | |
|---|---|
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| President | Paul-Jürgen Porr |
| Leader in theChamber of Deputies | Ovidiu Victor Ganț |
| Managing director[a] | Benjamin Józsa |
| Founded | 28 December 1989 (1989-12-28) in Sighișoara/Schäßburg[1] |
| Headquarters | Sibiu,Sibiu County,Transylvania,Romania |
| Membership | c. 40,000 (2004) c. 20,000[b][2] |
| Ideology | Germanminority interests Christian democracy Conservative liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| National affiliation | National Minorities Parliamentary Group |
| Regional affiliation | United for Brașov Alliance (2024) |
| European Parliament group | EPP-ED (January – November 2007) |
| International affiliation | Federal Union of European Nationalities[3] |
| Colours | Red-burgundy |
| Senate | 0 / 136 |
| Chamber of Deputies | 1 / 330 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 33 |
| Mayors | 5 / 3,176 |
| County Councillors | 5 / 1,338 |
| Local Council Councillors | 53 / 39,855 |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheDemocratic Forum of Germans in Romania (German:Demokratisches Forum der Deutschen in Rumänien, DFDR;Romanian:Forumul Democrat al Germanilor din România, FDGR; in shortForumul German orDas Forum) is apolitical party (legally recognized as an association of public utility according to the governmental decision HG 599 as per 4 June 2008) organised on ethnic criteria representing the interests of theGerman minority inRomania.[4][5][6]
Initially, the FDGR/DFDR was a cultural association representing the culture of the German community in Romania, but it subsequently became a moderately successful local political party (especially amongst Romanian voters as well), most notably in parts ofTransylvania (central Romania) andBanat (south-western Romania). Consequently, the counties where the FDGR/DFDR obtained the highest political scores in many local elections after 1989 areSibiu (German:Kreis Hermannstadt) andTimiș (German:Kreis Temesch) respectively.
The forum was founded at the end of 1989, in the wake of theRomanian Revolution which culminated with the downfall ofNicolae Ceaușescu's dictatorship.[7]: 303 Despite originally being a German minority party (and, initially, a cultural organization), it gradually grew quite popular amongst many ethnic Romanians, especially in parts ofTransylvania andBanat, including, most notably, the major town ofSibiu (German:Hermannstadt), where the party still holds a majority in the local town council (12 out of 23 seats), as well as in theCounty of Sibiu.[8] Aside from its significant presence in Transylvania and Banat, the FDGR/DFDR is also active inBukovina (i.e.Suceava County), yet without any elected representatives in the local politics, acting instead in the manner of a cultural foundation which periodically organizes a wide range of educational and cultural events.
In terms of reputation, the party is regarded as independent, whilst its politicians, including former Sibiu mayor, former party leader, and formerPresident of Romania,Klaus Johannis, have earned respect as thorough administrators.[9] The FDGR/DFDR has often cooperated with theNational Liberals (PNL), to which Iohannis became a member and one of its prime leaders (as vice-president) starting from February 2013. Additionally, the FDGR/DFDR also has a youth wing known as theGerman Youth Federation in Romania (German:Jugendforum), currently headed by Adelheid Simon.[10]
At local administration level, most notably inTimișoara (German:Temeswar or Temeschburg) orBaia Mare (German:Frauenbach or Neustadt), the FDGR/DFDR has also co-operated with another Romanian centre-right historical party, namely thePNȚCD.[11] For the2020 Romanian local elections however, the FDGR/DFDR supportedDominic Fritz (the candidate of theUSR PLUS, nowUSR) for the seat ofmayor of Timișoara which the latter also won in the first round with 53.24% over former national liberal (PNL) mayorNicolae Robu.
In recent years, the main headquarters of FDGR/DFDR in Sibiu (German:Hermannstadt) organised several foreign receptions of high ranking German officials, among which most notably there were formerChristian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) leader and former chancellorAngela Merkel and presidentJoachim Gauck.[12][13]
The history of the German minority in Romania, and mostly, their presence in the historical region ofTransylvania, spans approximately a millennium back in time. Nevertheless, under the blanket term "Romanian Germans" (German:Rumäniendeutsche) a wide variety of different regional German-speaking groups are included (some which are native to other regions of Romania) as follows:
Transylvanian Saxons (the eldest ethnic German sub-group on the territory of present-day Romania);
Banat Swabians (includingBanat Highland Germans);
Sathmar Swabians;
Bukovina Germans;Transylvanian Landler;[c]
Zipser Germans;[d]
Regat Germans;[note 1]
Dobrujan Germans;
Bessarabia Germans (former Romanian citizens between 1918 and 1940).Since 2000, the FDGR/DFDR has won offices on both local and regional levels. InSibiu (German:Hermannstadt), the FDGR/DFDR's Klaus Johannis has held the office of mayor from 2000 to 2014. In 2004, the forum gained 60.43% of votes in local elections for theMunicipal Council. In addition, the FDGR/DFDR held 12 out of 23 seats in the Sibiu Municipal Council, forming an absolute majority alongside thePNL.
Following the2016 local elections inSibiu County (which has a population of about 450,000 residents), the FDGR/DFDR won 8 out of 33 seats in theCounty Council, where it is the third strongest political faction, after the National Liberals (PNL) and Social Democrats (PSD).
The FDGR/DFDR has also had mayors in office since 2004 in the cities ofMediaș (German:Mediasch) andCisnădie (German:Heltau), as well as in a few villages inSatu Mare (German:Sathmar) county. The FDGR/DFDR is an associated member of theFederal Union of European Nationalities and was formerly affiliated with theEuropean People's Party (German:Europäische Volkspartei).
Additionally, at local political level, the FDGR/DFDR is organized in five distinct branches as follows: FDGR Banat (German:DFDR Banat), FDGR Bucovina (German:DFDR Buchenland), FDGR Transilvania (German:DFDR Siebenbürgen), FDGR Transilvania de Nord (German:DFDR Nordsiebenbürgen), and FDGR Regiunea Extra-carpatică (German:DFDR Altreich).[15][16]
Both during and after the2014 presidential campaign of former FDGR/DFDR president Klaus Johannis, who subsequently became president of theNational Liberal Party (PNL) during the autumn of the same year, theSocial Democratic Party (PSD) accused the forum of being the legal continuator of theGerman Ethnic Group (Romanian:Grupul Etnic German din România) concerning alleged dubious retrocessions of several buildings from Sibiu (German:Hermannstadt) by Johannis during his terms as mayor to the forum itself.[17] While the German Ethnic group was indeed a fascist organisation duringWorld War II which represented the German minority in Romania between 1940 and 1944, the FDGR/DFDR is a distinct platform which has nothing to do with the latter, formed after1989 anti-communistrevolution and consequently not inheriting anything from it.[18]
After the2016 Romanian local elections, the FDGR/DFDR candidates won the following localities (most of them belonging toSatu Mare County):[23][24]
Furthermore, the FDGR/DFDR also held 91 local councillor seats in 32 communes.[25]
After the2020 Romanian local elections, the FDGR/DFDR candidates won the following localities (most of them belonging toSatu Mare County):
In addition, the party now holds 68 local council seats (39 in Satu Mare, 13 in Sibiu, 10 in Brașov, 4 in Timiș, 1 in Maramureș, and 1 in Arad) as well as 5 county council seats in Sibiu County.
After the2024 Romanian local elections, the FDGR/DFDR candidates won the following localities (most of them belonging toSatu Mare County):
In addition, the party now holds 53 local council seats (40 in Satu Mare, 9 in Sibiu, 2 in Timiș and 2 in Brașov) as well as 5 county council seats in Sibiu County.
| Year | National | Sibiu | Brașov | Timiș | Arad | Caraș-Severin | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |
| 1996 | 18,568 | 0.22 | 4 / 1,642 | 5,772 | 3.19 | 1 / 39 | 1,927 | 0.74 | 0 / 41 | 2,811 | 1.02 | 1 / 45 | 4,710 | 2.44 | 1 / 39 | 2,084 | 1.5 | 1 / 39 |
| 2000 | 21,881 | 0.26 | 4 / 1,718 | 14,915 | 9.09 | 4 / 39 | 1,501 | 0.69 | 0 / 41 | 2,991 | 1.25 | 0 / 45 | 1,774 | 1.1 | 0 / 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 39 |
| 2004 | 76,843 | 0.85 | 11 / 1,436 | 56,877 | 28.39 | 11 / 33 | 5,042 | 2.08 | 0 / 35 | 5,514 | 2.1 | 0 / 37 | 4,255 | 2.18 | 0 / 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 31 |
| 2008 | 46,872 | 0.56 | 9 / 1,393 | 40,902 | 24.58 | 9 / 32 | 2,912 | 1.33 | 0 / 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 36 | 1,621 | 0.86 | 0 / 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 30 |
| 2012 | 62,528 | 0.64 | 11 / 1,393 | 47,083 | 24.7 | 9 / 32 | 13,377 | 5.04 | 2 / 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 36 | 2,068 | 0.98 | 0 / 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 30 |
| 2016 | 42,652 | 0.51 | 10 / 1,436 | 30,754 | 19.41 | 8 / 33 | 11,898 | 5.51 | 2 / 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 31 |
| 2020 | 24,333 | 0.31 | 5 / 1,340 | 19,903 | 12.94 | 5 / 32 | 4,430 | 2.19 | 0 / 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 30 |
| 2024 | 23.053 | 0.27 | 5 / 1,340 | 23,053 | 13.15 | 5 / 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 30 |
| Election | Chamber | Senate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |
| 1990 | 38,768 | 0.28 | 1 / 396 | 19,105 | 0.14 | 0 / 119 |
| 1992 | 34,685 | 0.32 | 1 / 341 | 588 | 0.00 | 0 / 143 |
| 1996 | 23,888 | 0.20 | 1 / 343 | — | — | — |
| 2000 | 40,844 | 0.31 | 1 / 345 | — | — | — |
| 2004 | 36,166 | 0.35 | 1 / 332 | — | — | — |
| 2008 | 23,190 | 0.30 | 1 / 334 | — | — | — |
| 2012 | 39,175 | 0.53 | 1 / 412 | — | — | — |
| 2016 | 12,375 | 0.18 | 1 / 329 | — | — | — |
| 2020 | 7,582 | 0.13 | 1 / 330 | — | — | — |
| 2024 | 8,577 | 0.09 | 1 / 330 | — | — | — |
| Election | Candidate | First round | Second round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | Percentage | Position | Votes | Percentage | Position | ||
| 2014 | Klaus Iohannis1 | 2,881,406 | 30.3% | 2nd | 6,288,769 | 54.4% | 1st |
| 2019 | Klaus Iohannis2 | 3,485,292 | 37.8% | 1st | 6,509,135 | 66.1% | 1st |
| 2025 | Crin Antonescu3 | 1,892,930 | 20.07% | 3rd | not qualified | ||
Notes:
1 Klaus Iohannis was still a member of the FDGR and he was the common centre-right candidate that was endorsed in 2014 by theChristian Liberal Alliance (ACL).[28]
2 Klaus Iohannis was endorsed by FDGR and PNL.[29]
3 Crin Antonescu was announced as common PSD, PNL, UDMR and Minorities candidate.[30]
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