Bucharest city hall refuses approval for AUR's Georgescu rally on match day

Refusal of the rally

Bucharest's city hall has not approved the AUR rally planned for Saturday, 14 November, in Parcul Izvor beside the Romanian Parliament. The protest was announced in support of Călin Georgescu. The city hall says the decision follows a letter dated 6 November from the leadership of the Gendarmerie and the Bucharest Police, which warned that the rally could breach article 9 letters a) and c) of Law No. 60/1991 because of incitement to hatred and violence identified online. The authorities also cited risks to public order and to the rights and freedoms of citizens. According to the municipality, the refusal does not ban the protest, but the organisers did not receive approval for the conditions they had announced.

Warnings about online rhetoric

Police and gendarmes said several people had issued threats and calls to violence on social media, including calls to use bladed weapons, to shed blood, to block communication routes and to clash with law enforcement. The city hall described this rhetoric as exceeding the usual level of comments attached to a protest call. The Gendarmerie press office, cited by Agerpres, said it had flagged concrete risks for the 14 November demonstration, which falls on the day Romania plays Poland in Bucharest. It said about 3,000 Polish supporters could be in central Bucharest at the same time. Representatives of the German party Alternative for Germany (AfD) are also expected at the rally.

“The decision on approval belongs to the competent authorities.”

Crowd size in dispute

Organisers told the commission on 5 November that 50 people would attend. Authorities say they observed a significant mobilisation to transport protesters from 39 counties, without counting Ilfov and Bucharest, which they say makes the 50-person figure far from realistic. The city hall also points to the Romania-Poland match, which it says will draw about 35,000 supporters into the city. According to the municipality, the organisers rejected any other date for the protest outright.

Organisers' figure (commission, 5 November)50

Polish supporters possibly in central Bucharest (Gendarmerie)3,000

Supporters expected for the match (city hall)35,000

Organisers' figure (commission, 5 November)

50 people

Polish supporters possibly in central Bucharest (Gendarmerie)

3000 people

Supporters expected for the match (city hall)

35000 people

Data from the article text

Piperea's accusation and next steps

Gheorghe Piperea, an AUR MEP, accused Mayor Ciprian Ciucu of restricting the constitutional right to protest. He said the city hall first sent organisers a draft protocol with strict conditions: a timetable of 8:00 to 18:00 with dispersal from 17:45, a space strictly fenced off by gendarmes, short speaking slots and a cap of 50 participants. Later, he said, the organisers received a letter signed by the mayor stating that the draft had been withdrawn from the approval process because the purpose of the event had changed online. Piperea called this a de facto ban on a public assembly.

“If people want to support Călin Georgescu through street protests, it is their right to do so.”

Piperea warned that refusing approval could encourage spontaneous protests without an organised framework. He has asked Ciucu to provide explanations and concrete evidence behind the refusal. He has also said he will pursue every legal means to hold those responsible to account.

“I will take all legal measures so that this illegal behaviour does not become entrenched.”

The rally remains scheduled for Saturday, 14 November, the same day as the Romania-Poland match.