Alliance for the Unity of Romanians

The Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (Romanian: Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor, AUR) is a right-wing conservative and nationalist political party in Romania. It was founded on 1 December 2019, the national day of Romania, in Alba Iulia by George Simion. This was done with the intention of participating in the 2020 Romanian local and legislative elections. Today, the party has two co-presidents, Simion and Claudiu Târziu.

Not to be confused with Alliance for Romanian Unity.
Alliance for the Unity of Romanians

Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor
AbbreviationAUR (meaning "GOLD")
PresidentGeorge Simion (co-president)
Claudiu Târziu (co-president)
General SecretaryCristian David
President of the Senate of AURSorin Lavric
Leader in the SenateClaudiu Târziu
Leader in the Chamber of DeputiesGeorge Simion
FounderGeorge Simion
Founded1 December 2019
IdeologyRomanian nationalism
Right-wing populism[1]
Anti-establishment[2]
National conservatism
Social conservatism
Economic nationalism
Christian nationalism
Romanian–Moldovan unionism
Romanian irredentism
Environmentalism[3]
Soft Euroscepticism
Anti-communism
Anti-Magyarism[4][5][6] (disputed)[7]
Anti-immigration[8][9]
Political positionRight-wing[10] to far-right[11]
ReligionRomanian Orthodox Church
Colours  Gold
SloganDreptate pentru România
(Justice for Romania)
Senate
14 / 136
Chamber of Deputies
32 / 330
European Parliament
0 / 33
Mayors
3 / 3,176
County Councilors
0 / 1,340
Local Council Councilors
79 / 39,900
Website
www.partidulaur.ro

The party ran in the local elections, not obtaining many votes and only winning in three towns. However, in the legislative elections, the AUR won 9% of the votes in all of Romania and its diaspora, which resulted in a surprise that led the party to become the fourth largest one in the country.

AUR aims for the unification of all Romanians from Romania and Romanian-populated neighbouring zones, and for the support of the Romanian diaspora in other countries. The party seeks the unification of Romania and Moldova, supports NATO membership and aims for energy independence for Romania. It has been accused of supporting anti-vaccination ideas and being Magyarophobic. Their party's self-described four main pillars are "family, nation, Christian faith, and liberty".

History

The party was established on 1 December 2019, during the Great Union Day of Romania. This was done in Alba Iulia, a city symbolising Romanian unification. The leader, George Simion, said the party intended to participate in the 2020 Romanian local and legislative elections of the country.[12] Simion had up to this point been a campaigner for the unification of Romania and the Republic of Moldova.[2] The other party leader, Claudiu Târziu, was a member of Coalition for the Family which unsuccessfully campaigned to ban gay marriage through constitutional change in a 2018 referendum.[13][14]

On 26 June 2020, AUR condemned the disinterest of the Romanian authorities regarding the minority rights of the Romanians in Serbia and Ukraine and declared that it would fully support them once it entered the Romanian Parliament.[15] Two days later, AUR also condemned the 80th anniversary of the annexation of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertza region by the Soviet Union, declaring that "it is our obligation to regain our state".[16]

By July 2020, AUR counted 22 branches in Europe and North America for the Romanian diaspora.[17] The first of these was established in Wolverhampton, in the United Kingdom.[18]

AUR was the only party in Romania that expressed support for Donald Trump.[19]

2020 Romanian local elections

During the 2020 Romanian local elections, AUR won the mayoralty in three towns: Amara, Pufești and Valea Lungă.[20]

2020 Romanian legislative election

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 the Internet.[2][21][22] The party came first among Romanians in Italy, the largest group of the Romanian diaspora, and ran a close second among Romanians in France and Romanians in Spain. It also scored first in Cyprus.[23]

AUR's candidate for prime minister was Călin Georgescu, who worked for the United Nations for 17 years.[24]

According to a statement released by AUR, between the 7th and the 8th of December 2020, 15,000 Romanians joined the party in just 24 hours. The party is supposedly going to have 46 members of parliament in the 2020–2024 Romanian legislature, according to the same statement.[25]

The party achieved good results in rural areas of Moldavia and Dobruja, areas traditionally dominated by the big parties. Significant percentages are in the counties where the Orthodox Church has a strong influence and a large number of practicing believers: Suceava - 14.72%, Botoșani - 14.62%, Neamț - 14.4%, Constanța - 14.2%, and Vrancea - 13.43%.[26]

The party speculated the new communication channels (social networks) in a similar way to the Greater Romania Party 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 the People's Party – Dan Diaconescu, which was propelled with the help of the OTV television channel.[26]

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.[26]

December 2020—present

On 22 January 2021, Simion announced the party would affiliate itself with the "European political family of conservatives and reformists" after going on visits in Poland and Brussels.[27]

Ideology

AUR is young as a party, but it didn't come out of nowhere. It brings together some people whose history is linked to the late period of communism. Its candidates are experts in propaganda, intellectuals with more or less open sympathy for legionnaires and legionary or pro-legionary intellectuals, businessmen and itinerant politicians who wander from one radical party to another.

— Oliver Jens Schmitt[28]

According to the party's website, AUR's ultimate goal is to achieve the unification of all Romanians "wherever they are located, in Bucharest, Iași, Timișoara, Cernăuți, Timoc, Italy or Spain." There are four self-described pillars for the party: family, nation, Christian faith, and liberty.[29][14][30] They have called themselves "the defenders of the Church".[19] The party is opposed to what it refers to as gender ideology and believes that a nation has no chance of surviving "unless it cultivates the original pattern of the classic family".[10]

The party's representatives became popular on social media as a result of their positioning against measures taken by the government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leading members, such as Diana Iovanovici Șoșoacă, gained thousands of followers. The AUR is described as supporting "anti-medicine, anti-vaccination" rhetoric.[14] The party's manifesto opposes secularism and condemns atheism, while at the same time claiming that Christians are persecuted in Romania.[11] The party has been critical of the impact of the local autonomy of Hungarians in Romania on the rights of ethnic Romanians in the centre of the country,[10] leading to accusations of being Magyarophobic.[2] The latter accusation was rejected by the president of AUR,[31][7] and the party denounced the media, accusing it of spreading false information about their campaign.[32] Simion has cited Law and Justice, the ruling party in Poland, as one of his models.[33]

AUR wishes to position Romania as a leader in central and eastern Europe within the European Union and to integrate the Republic of Moldova into Romania.[34] The party is pro-NATO and views the integration of Moldova into Romania as strengthening NATO's eastern flank.[10]

AUR wishes to ensure Romania's self-sufficiency in energy, the prosecution of those deemed responsible for mismanaged post-Communist privatisation projects, and a fight against illegal logging by banning the export of non-processed wood.[33] Additionally, AUR wishes to reform and modernize 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.[35]

The party has a senate, which is equivalent to the National Executive Committee of other Romanian parties such as the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the National Liberal Party (PNL) and the Save Romania Union (USR).[36]

Electoral history

Legislative elections
Election Chamber Senate Position Aftermath
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
2020 535,828 9.08
33 / 330
 541,935 9.17
14 / 136
  4th  Opposition to PNL-USR-PLUS-UDMR government (2020–present)

National results
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 

Mayor of Bucharest
Election Candidate First round
Votes Percentage Position
2020 Claudiu Târziu4,445
0.67%
 7th 

See also

References
  1. "Romanian opposition takes narrow lead after election". BBC News. 7 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020.
  2. ""Surpriza" AUR, partidul cu mesaj anti-maghiar, anti-occidental, unionist și anti-mască. Cine sunt liderii partidului: George Simion, Claudiu Târziu și Dan Tănasă". G4Media.ro (in Romanian). 7 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020.
  3. "Oprirea jafului din pădurile României, în atenția AUR".
  4. "Jurnaliștii români, ambasadele și politicienii sunt, de asemenea, îngrijorați de faptul că un partid ultra extremist a intrat în parlamentul României". mikoimre.ro (in Romanian). 12 December 2020. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020.
  5. "Votantul partidului AUR: tânăr, studii medii, credincios, din Transilvania, Moldova sau Italia". cursdeguvernare.ro (in Romanian). 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020.
  6. ""Surpriza" AUR, partidul cu mesaj anti-maghiar, anti-occidental, unionist și anti-mască. Cine sunt liderii partidului: George Simion, Claudiu Târziu și Dan Tănasă". g4media.ro (in Romanian). 7 December 2020. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020.
  7. Sandu, Geanina (11 December 2020). "Claudiu Târziu, copreședintele AUR, la Marius Tucă Show: „Lavric nu e un misogin. Lavric iubește femeile. Lui Lavric ți-e și rușine să-i treci prin față"". Mediafax (in Romanian).
  8. https://www.g4media.ro/aur-in-numele-lui-dumnezeu-apararea-crestinilor-de-gay-si-atei-multiculturalismul-este-paravan-pentru-neomarxisti-relatia-cu-globalistii-sua-nu-exista-unirea-cu.html
  9. https://www.libertatea.ro/stiri/claudiu-tarziu-lider-partid-aur-3315204
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  13. Rosca, Matei (8 December 2020). "Romanian president sends general into uphill battle". POLITICO. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
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  29. "Surprise 'Gold' Rush Hurtles Right-Wing Party Into Thick Of Romanian Politics". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
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  31. "În ce laborator de serviciu secret a fost creat AUR - la SRI sau la SIE? George Simion, răspuns su - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  32. Dec 11, 2020; Reaction, 1. "AUR: Denunțăm toate inițiativele din mediul online menite să compromită imaginea AUR". Alianța pentru Unirea Românilor - AUR. Retrieved 14 December 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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