Today are 11 days since Romanians took the streets asking for our president, our center-right PM and his government to resign. In Bucharest, in Cluj where I’m from and in other towns as well about 100-300 protesters meet every evening and walk peacefully across town to make their voices heard. In addition to opposing current political leadership and its decisions, they also speak against the opposition and dismiss the entire political class labeling them “thiefs”, “corrupt capitalists” and many more. Other claims are: for the government not to sign with Gabriel Corporations to begin cyanide-based exploitations in our very own Transylvanian-gold-rich Rosia Montana, Romania going back to being a monarchy, empowering youth instead of pushing them to look abroad and so on.
One of the prominent local activists, musician and journalist says “the protests will not end. We are a different kind of generation”. What generation could that be, I wonder? I asked one of my friends, a Moldovan and soon-to-be Romanian citizen who is an active protester, why he is protesting and what does it mean standing in the streets. Here is what he told me in this rather informal chat:
So Andrei, do you usually participate in protests or rallies?
Andrei: In Cluj I’ve joined protests against the new education law. Unfortunately there have been sort of few people attending, out of thousands of students about 200 people. I regularly joined protests in the Moldovan Republic in 2009 and now these.
Do you know why these people are here today?
A: I guess. In fact they are protesting for a number of reasons, starting with getting rid of Basescu [Romania’s president], the government, Rosia Montana, education law, legalizing marijuana… now they’ve picked on the university environment and want to dismiss Marga [Andrei Marga is rector of the largest university in Romania] and many others.
And for which of these causes are you here?
A: For none really. I’m here because I need to talk about personal frustrations such as living in a hostile citizen –institutional environment and find like-minded people, to get ourselves organized in the future. To create a space for socialization, discussions and debates.
I also participate because I understand, from what I’ve read, that Romania is going through a hard time and I come here to help social capital grow and make for a non-violent transition towards a new system of government or state organization, to help reform social democracy and what concerns the people, the general population.
Do you think voting could solve some of the issues?
A: No, I don’t think so. But I do sign petitions on the internet and offline as well. Today for example I signed a petition against PIPA and SOPA, but they wouldn’t accept it because I’m not in America… One would need an American zip code for it to be valid…
Andrei, are you a professional activist?
A: It depends, I think it’s good to be generally active and get involved, but without losing a personal viewpoint and vision. But no, I’m no professional activist because it wouldn’t bring me any satisfaction. Maybe there are persons who need to be in the spotlight and make their voices heard irrespective of issue.
How long do you think these meetings will last? What result could they have?
A: You know, It really depends on the outcome of the protests on Jan 24th, because the date has a strong historical value for a lot of Romanians. I think that there is a feeling in the crowds that if the situation won’t change after this, their cause might be lost. I certainly hope that will not be the case and the desire for social change should not reduce itself just to a single date in the calendar, and instead be perpetual.
The results one could hope for should not entail just a moderate type reshuffling of the government and leadership positions. Instead, my hopes are that the outcomes of the current protests will not settle for elusive public discourse of the political elite and for empty promises of change. A type of change if it is commonly desired should, in my opinion, be the complete redefinition of the current system of social and political organization. Unfortunately, the numbers, scope and vision of the Romanian protesters are too small, vague, unorganized and divided in order to constitute a viable prospect for positive change.
Given that you are not yet a Romanian citizen, to what extent are you affected by Romanian politics? why are you protesting?
A: Because whatever will happen will affect me as well, indirectly, as a resident in this country.
Considering the future, do you intend to stay and live in Romania?
In the photo there are Andrei and his friend Elena. The message on the paper says: “UNITED FOR A REAL DEMOCRACY!”
If you would like to get in contact with Andrei and ask him some questions, please write to andreitrubceak@yahoo.com and he will gladly answer. He would have joined Edgeryders himself but nowadays the streets keep him busy 
