AUR defends lawmaker Dan Tănasă amid incitement probe

The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party is rallying behind lawmaker Dan Tănasă, who is under investigation for inciting violence, hatred, or discrimination. The probe stems from a message Tănasă allegedly posted, encouraging Romanians to refuse deliveries from individuals who are not Romanian.

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Attention! The attacks on AUR have begun. Dan Tănasa has just left prosecutor Rareș Stan, the same one who stole our phones before the European parliamentary elections. Do not be intimidated, these are the last throes!

Following Tănasă's questioning at the Prosecutor's Office on July 17, AUR issued a strong statement denouncing the investigation as an "abuse" and an attempt to intimidate a parliamentarian for expressing public opinions. The party asserts that Tănasă did not incite violence but rather highlighted concerns about the "massive import of unskilled workers from Asia and Africa," urging Romanians to prioritize services from their compatriots.

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The Alliance for the Union of Romanians condemns the instrumentalization of a criminal case against deputy Dan Tanasă for alleged incitement to hatred, after he drew public attention to the massive import of unskilled workers from Asia and Africa, urging Romanians to prioritize deliveries made by fellow citizens. This is an obvious abuse, a new episode through which an attempt is made to punish a parliamentarian for the simple fact that he expressed a legitimate public position.

Party leader George Simion publicly supported Tănasă, characterizing the investigation as an attack on AUR. He posted on Facebook that Tănasă had just left the prosecutor's office and described the situation as "the last throes" of those opposing the party. Simion also alleged that the prosecutor involved was the same one who had previously confiscated phones before European parliamentary elections.

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Deputy Dan Tanasă did not incite violence against anyone, but drew attention, in a direct and necessary way, to a serious problem facing Romania: the uncontrolled import of unskilled labor from Asia and Africa, which affects Romania's labor market, citizen security, and national identity.

AUR's press release stated that criticizing a public policy should not be confused with a criminal offense. The party warned that such investigations risk discouraging political discourse and undermine freedom of expression. They argued that in a genuine democracy, parliamentarians have a duty to raise public issues without fear of legal repercussions, and that the response to a political opinion should be another opinion, not criminal proceedings.

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We categorically reject the attempt to equate criticism of public policy with incitement to hatred. In a genuine democracy, parliamentarians have not only the right but also the obligation to bring to public attention the problems they consider relevant for Romania, without fear of becoming the target of investigations for their expressed opinions.