S.O.S. Romania S.O.S. România | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | SOS RO |
| President | Diana Șoșoacă[1] |
| Founders | Gabriel Gib[2] Adeluța Gib[2] Maricel Viziteu[2] |
| Founded | 23 November 2021[3] |
| Split from | Romanian Socialist Party[2] Alliance for the Union of Romanians |
| Headquarters | Strada Modrogan, Nr. 6,Sector 1,Bucharest[4] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-right[7] |
| Religion | Romanian Orthodox Church |
| European Parliament group | Non-Inscrits |
| Colours | Navy blue Light blue |
| Slogan | Un popor unit nu poate fi învins (A united people can't be defeated) |
| Senate | 1 / 134 |
| Chamber of Deputies | 15 / 330 |
| European Parliament | 1 / 33 |
| Local councils | 149 / 39,900 |
| Website | |
| sosro.ro | |
S.O.S. Romania (Romanian:S.O.S. România) is afar-right political party in Romania that was founded in 2021. The party is considered to beright-wing populist,socially conservative, andirredentist. Additionally, the party is known for itsEurosceptic stance, and is considered more radical than the right-wing to far-rightAlliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR). S.O.S Romania has been described as being closely tied to Russia.[8][9] Since 2022, the party has been led byDiana Șoșoacă, then a member of theSenate of Romania, who had been elected on the AUR list.[10]
The party was founded in November 2021 by Maricel Viziteu and Adeluța and Gabriel Gib, the latter being a former member of theRomanian Socialist Party (PSR).[2] It became known on the Romanian political landscape in May 2022 after senatorDiana Șoșoacă, elected on theAlliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) list, joined the party and later became its leader.[10]
Political analyst and former politicianMiron Mitrea stated that the party had a support level of 5–6% in the election polls as of July 2023.[11] Șoșoacă replied that its support level was much higher and told people not to trust the polls.[12]
On 13 October 2023, S.O.S. Romania expressed its intention to join theIdentity and Democracy Party in the European Parliament.[13][14] However, it was later reported the S.O.S. Romania would join an alliance led byAlternative for Germany instead.[15] On 28 June 2024, the Alternative for Germany declined the application of S.O.S. Romania to join their European Parliament group,[16] with the Hungarian nationalist partyOur Homeland Movement stating that this was at their request.[17]
Diana Șoșoacă, leader of S.O.S. România, espouses a cluster of far-right nationalist, sovereigntist and populist positions that have increasingly stirred controversy. She has vocally called for Romania's withdrawal from the European Union (RO‑Exit), characterizing EU membership as destructive, and has denounced NATO as an institution that drags Romania into unnecessary conflicts.[18] Although her party professes to oppose “Russian and Chinese dictatorships” and claims the label “Eurorealist” rather than Eurosceptic,[19] Șoșoacă herself has openly embraced pro‑Russian posturing—visiting the Russian embassy in Bucharest multiple times, including on Russia Day, and even writing an open letter to Vladimir Putin urging the "return" of territories she asserts historically belong to Romania.[20][21][22]
Her rhetoric extends to irredentist demands, advocating for the denunciation of the 1997 treaty with Ukraine and asserting claims over Northern Bukovina, Bessarabia, Budjak, and Snake Island—an initiative Ukraine responded to with a three‑year entry ban for her.[23] Post-pandemic, she gained notoriety opposing COVID-19 restrictions and vaccines; she later carried this confrontational style into the European Parliament, where she disparaged the institution as undemocratic and staged theatrical protests, once even voting in folk costume while displaying religious imagery and waving criticisms at EU officials.[24] Her combative tone and pro‑Russian andantisemitic rhetoric led to her disqualification from the 2024 and 2025 presidential races by Romania's Constitutional Court, which cited her statements as incompatible with the duties of the presidency.[25][26][27] Ideologically, her platform has been characterized asRomanian nationalism,[29]ultranationalism,[30]Romanian irredentism,[8]social conservatism,[33]sovereigntism,[35]right-wing populism,[39]Russophilia,[40][41] andhard Euroscepticism.[43]
| Election | Votes | Percentage | MEPs | Position | EU Party | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 450,040 | 5.03% | 2 / 33 | 5th | NI |
| Election | Chamber | Senate | Position | Aftermath | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Seats | Votes | % | Seats | |||
| 2024 | 679,923 | 7.36 | 28 / 331 | 718,415 | 7.76 | 12 / 134 | 5th | |
| Opposition toPSD-PNL-UDMR minority government (2024–2025) | ||||||||
| Opposition toPSD-PNL-USR-UDMR government (2025–present) | ||||||||
"At our request, the group rejected the application of the SOS Romania party to join," said Laszlo Toroczkai, a member of the Hungarian Our Homeland party, in a post on X. He motivated the request by saying that SOS Romania is anti-Hungarian.
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