A wave of protests has swept Romania after thousands of citizens took to the streets in 40-degree heat to express their dissatisfaction with the government's planned austerity measures. In the capital, Bucharest, the demonstrations were led by Gheorghe Simion, leader of the opposition Alliance for the Unification of Romanians (AUR).
Among the protesters' main demands were: “Freedom. We don't want higher taxes. We don't want war.“ Some of them accused President Nikusor Dan of treason.
Gheorghe Simion told local TV station Realitatea that he will do everything possible to stop the introduction of measures, which he believes will lead to even greater poverty. He stressed that decisions on economic reforms were made outside the country – “in France, not in Romania“.
The reason for the discontent is the government's plans to increase VAT. According to information from the Romanian publication Libertatea, President Dan and the newly appointed Prime Minister Ilie Boloian have agreed to increase the reduced VAT rates from 5-9% to 11-13%, and in some cases - up to 19%. The standard rate of 19% will remain unchanged.
The measures are part of the government's attempts to control the largest budget deficit in the European Union, which currently stands at 9.3% of GDP.
The organizers of the protests announced that this was only the beginning of civil discontent and warned that they would continue with the demonstrations until the government abandons planned economic reforms.