ALBA IULIA, Romania — Among the deep river gorges and forest-covered mountainsides of Transylvania, home to wolves, bears and folktales of vampires, a dark and destructive spirit is beginning to stir.
In 1918, modern Romania was founded when Transylvania entered a formal union with the rest of the country at an assembly in the fortified citadel of Alba Iulia, an ancient Roman town that is now the focus of national unification celebrations in December every year.
The country’s troubled history since has been defined by periods of brutal dictatorial rule, first under fascists, and then through totalitarian terror enforced by the state security police, the Securitate, during the 24-year Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu.
A violent revolution in 1989 captured the attention of the world when Ceaușescu and his wife Elena were shot dead, marking a defining image of the end of the Cold War era.
Yet 36 years later, democracy in Romania is in deep trouble amid an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, with high taxes and inflation running at almost 5 percent.
In a high-stakes presidential election taking place on Sunday, many of the proud residents of Alba county want to destroy their political system again, believing it to be corrupted beyond repair.
“We call it the big squid because it has its tentacles everywhere — only the guys on top have profits,” says Dragoș, who was born a few months before the revolution and now drives taxis. “Democracy was only a name. We are still under Communism — in every way.”
His attitude is a common one. Locals become angry talking about how politicians have betrayed their country. They fear and despise officials in the old political parties, who control appointments to local institutions and businesses — sometimes favoring friends or family connections for the best jobs.
‘Anti-system’ politicians
In some ways, Sunday’s election is the perfect expression of the crisis of faith that has engulfed Romania’s political system: For the first time since 1989, neither of the two candidates for president comes from one of the mainstream political parties that have governed more or less continuously since the revolution.
Both contenders claim to be “anti-system” politicians who will tackle corruption from the top down.
But that’s where the similarities end. This has been an intense campaign that has split the country down the middle already. The race looks close. Angry claims of unfair campaigning have already been leveled against both sides — before the result is even known.
The favorite, who came top in the first round of the presidential race two weeks ago, is the 38-year-old, hard-right firebrand George Simion. A proud and punchy nationalist, he has spoken about reuniting Romania with neighboring Moldova, consciously copies the playbook of Donald Trump (even wearing his own red MAGA cap). He has also vowed to punish the corrupt establishment figures who have denied Romanians their democratic rights (and issued threats against critics in the media elsewhere).
His opponent, Nicușor Dan, is the mild-mannered and centrist independent mayor of Bucharest, the cultured capital city 220 miles away from the gothic landscapes of Alba, in the gentle, even plain of Romania’s south.
It is a clash between moderation and populism that resounds to the same drumbeat animating political battles across Europe and beyond — from America to Germany, France, the Netherlands, the U.K. and Italy. A large proportion of voters want change and are prepared for things to turn ugly to get it.
Revolt of the right
Last year, Romania’s right-wingers thought their moment had come.
But ultranationalist Călin Georgescu — who was sympathetic to Moscow and skeptical of NATO and arming Ukraine — was thwarted by the courts despite winning the first round of the presidential election.
Amid claims of widespread interference by foreign powers (read Russia) and a TikTok campaign that raised suspicions, the Constitutional Court canceled the entire contest and ordered a rerun, which is taking place on Sunday.
But despite these alleged foreign threats, for many Romanians — even those who disliked Georgescu — the real democratic disaster was that court ruling, canceling the vote. Georgescu is not standing in the rerun and faces a criminal investigation into his activities. But Simion says he wants to make Georgescu prime minister.
“This Simion guy is the best option because he’s able to demolish everything, destroy everything,” says Dragos. “What is the worst thing that can happen with Simion? Why do you still want to live with the other guys? What the hell? Are we all idiots?”
Dragos says his own wife disagrees with him. She is afraid of what might happen under Simion, a former football hooligan with the demeanour of an easy brawler and a mouth primed for insults. Dragos declines to give his family name, worried that the division will trigger more arguments at home.
His reluctance to publicize his political identity is far from unique. Romania’s totalitarian past lingers in the minds of older generations, and those “tentacles” of corrupt party-business relations stretch deep into many aspects of life. The fear of the secret police may have faded but political debate these days still feels risky, as if it could cost people their jobs as well as their friendships.
Making hay
A 35-minute drive out of Alba Iulia along a steep, forested valley lies the tiny town of Zlatna.
In the fields at the edge of town stand neat piles of hay, each one arranged around a tall upright stake and left slumped in a heap to provide feed for animals. Their hunched shape gives off an air of resignation: This is how hay has been made here for centuries, and while generations will come and go, and governments rise, then fall, some things don’t change.
Beyond Zlatna’s two church spires, the 720-foot-high brick chimney of a former copper smelting plant rises into the blue sky, its red and white stripes towering over the town from the top of a hill.
In the shade of a tree, four women watch their children clambering onto a slide in a sunlit playground. It is a scene that is full of light and good humor, with the green of new spring leaves all around. But when the conversation turns to politics, the mood turns.
In the first round of the election two weeks ago, which 11 candidates contested, 55 percent of Zlatna’s voters backed Simion.
Georgeta, 38, says she wants Simion as president, so she can get Georgescu back. “Dan can’t do anything,” she says. “I want Georgescu. That’s why I am voting for Simion. Călin Georgescu has some spine and Simion looks at him as an example. We just have to be patient and Georgescu will be elected.”
Andrea, 28, becomes suddenly angry. “Simion is too extreme,” she says. “He has so much influence because of Georgescu. There is a lot of disinformation and pictures out there that are not legitimate. Simion wants to be president but I have never heard he has done anything. He is getting votes just because he says he will make Georgescu prime minister.”
Neither they nor their friend are willing to give their full names discussing politics. “This is a small town. Some people are threatened that if they don’t vote for Nicușor Dan they will be fired,” says 49-year-old “Liliana,” as she has asked to be known. “I am afraid there will be repercussions, the authorities will harass me if I say I’m voting for Simion.”
This conspiracy of silence makes judging how the campaign is going much harder.
ROMANIA PRESIDENTIAL POLL OF POLLS
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For more polling data from across Europe visit POLITICO Poll of Polls.
Recent polls show Dan, initially trailing far behind Simion, has now caught up and could even be inching ahead in the final days of the campaign.
But it’s not clear the pollsters can accurately capture the full extent of support for Simion. His poll ratings before the first round understated the vote share he eventually won (41 percent). Anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that people are more willing to admit they’re voting for Dan than for Simion.
During the exit poll survey for the first round of the election on May 4, 50 percent of those questioned would not say how they had voted, an unusually high refusal rate.
Regardless of how they intend to vote, the fact that people do not feel safe to discuss their political views openly is a warning signal that Romanian democracy is in trouble. Cynicism has long been a problem, given how the same parties — the social democrats (PSD) and the national liberal (PNL) parties — have parceled out power between them for the past four decades.
Few politicians were untainted by association with the Communist regime, reinforcing a sense that the revolution of 1989 itself did not deliver the change the population craved. Since the courts scrapped last year’s election, disillusionment and anger seem to have grown.
As the polls tighten, and appear to give Dan a real chance, Simion has cried foul, accusing Moldova (where he is banned) of trying to interfere in the election. Already a MAGA-like “stop the steal” narrative has begun.
Ode to Joy
On Thursday evening, 300 residents of Alba Iulia, many draped in European flags, marched through the streets of the city to show their support for Dan, with his consensual manner and commitment to conventional Western values. Many said they were afraid of what Simion would do to their country.
“Nicușor,Nicușor — it won’t be easy, but he will win,” they chant at the tops of their voices. “Romania, Europe is your home!”
As they snake along Revolution Boulevard, towards the historic heart of the citadel, the crowd of young people, families and professionals are determined to show Alba Iulia, which voted clearly for Simion (though not as strongly as nearby villages) is not a one-man town.
“There is a lot of hate in this campaign. I have received threats personally, and been told pro-Europeans should be thrown through a window,” says Simena Trif, coordinator of Dan’s campaign in the area. “The current situation is the fault of the political authorities who have not taken the necessary steps to prevent extremism spreading in Romania.”
David Milea, 29, says he wanted to protect “the right to speak” in the face of extremists who want to take over. “Simion is just a populist. The big dangers with him are [losing] the funds from Europe and also switching more to the Russian side.”
Again, the fear of a return to Romania’s past oppression lies just under the surface, even for the young. “I just want to be free to choose everything I want to do,” says Diana Ghita, 27. “I never lived through Ceaușescu’s time but I can’t stop thinking about how we could end up in the same situation, not be able to do a lot of things, again.”
As the marchers enter the citadel and pass Unification Hall, their pace slows to a respectful stroll and they fall quiet. Once outside the citadel walls again, they stop to listen to pro-Dan speeches in front of a memorial to 18th-century resistance fighters rebelling against Austro-Hungarian, watched by three relaxed gendarmes.
As the sun sinks lower and gathering breaks up, a young boy with a European flag wrapped around his shoulders, walks away with his brother and father. He has a recorder in his hands, and is playing Ode to Joy, the European Union’s official anthem.
Dragoș Ursu, a historian at the National Museum of the Union in Alba Iulia, helped to organize the march. He worries about an “economic meltdown” if Simion wins — the government already projects a 7 percent budget deficit this year, prompting fresh warnings of a downgrade from rating agencies.“We are here to save whatever can still be saved,” he says.
Whoever wins the presidency on Sunday, saving Romania’s tattered democracy will be a far harder task.
The post In Transylvania, fear haunts Romania’s troubled democracy appeared first on Politico.
