Romania’s centrist president is under fire from centrists after he challenged a parliamentary bill aiming to increase the criminal penalties aimed at alleged ‘far-right’ offenders.
Passed by parliament on June 13th, the bill would increase prison sentences for those who initiate, support, or participate in fascist, racist, or xenophobic politics. It also revives punishments for ‘Legionary’ activity i.e. campaigning in line with the outlook of the inter-war Legion of the Archangel Michael, once Romania’s major fascist organisation.
Nicusor Dan’s formal submission of the new law to the Constitutional Court last week was accompanied, eventually, by his warning that it could infringe on freedom of expression—and that judges would need greater clarity to work with its sentencing guidelines.
In contrast, supporters of the bill—including historians and representatives of the Jewish community—pressed for it to go straight ahead. From the latter, bill initiator Silviu Vexler threatened to return his National Order of Merit in protest. Historian Mihai Demetriad also complained of “too few convictions” under current laws, citing their predecessors as evidence that they were both sound and workable. (After participating in various assassinations, the mystic nationalists of the Legion of the Archangel Michael were banned in 1941.)
Even without the passage of this bill, legal crackdowns on the so-called far right in Romania have disturbing precedents, with the Constitutional Court and European Union contesting presidential election results in December 2024.
