Hundreds joined a Pride march in western Romanian city of Oradea on Saturday, despite a ban from the mayor.
Police handed out fines to dozens of people even before supporters started on the route. Participants were defiant as sanctions reportedly between 500 and 700 lei (100 to 140 euros) were given to them, singing: “I don’t care, I love it”.
Apart from the fines, there was no other open opposition to the march, which diplomats including the ambassadors of Portugal and the Netherlands, took part in.
News about the Pride march in Romania was overshadowed by an Islamist-linked attack near the Berlin Pride festival after a vehicle was driven into a crowd in the city center, killing one and injuring 16.
Police said they had identified a male suspect who is “known to the police and is associated with the Islamist scene.” The annual pride event, Europe’s largest, was cancelled and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a statement he would “make sure this horrific act is fully investigated and punished”.
In Romania, organizers of Oradea Pride said 700 people took part in Saturday’s event, while media reported the number at hundreds. Oradea has made a name for itself after authorities banned the march years in a row, the only city in the European Union to do so.
Discrimination and intolerance, though less than it once was, still persist in Romania against same-sex couples, 25 years after homosexuality was fully decriminalized under pressure from the Council of Europe. Romania has no legal recognition for same-sex couples, and there are obstacles in legal gender recognition.
Romania’s Ombudsman, Renate Weber, who was at the Oradea march said that Romanian law doesn’t require an approval for protests, but organizers need to notify local authorities predicting that fines will probably be overturned by a judge
Local authorities can modify the protest’s route, but they cannot deny approval, she said. The organizers gave a list of 120 possible routes across the city, but the mayor refused claiming the match violated “good morals”.
Ombudsman Weber accused Oradea Mayor Florin Birta of misinterpreting the law.
Parents of LGBTI people in Romania sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, in which they ask her to intervene publicly and ask the Romanian authorities to guarantee the safe conduct of the Pride March.
Nicu Stefanuta, the Vice-President of the European Parliament, criticized local authorities and police.
“This shame will not be easily washed away,” he said blaming Romanian politicians for “passively witnessing something makes us a black spot on the map of Europe”.
Showdown expected in Romanian city as Pride organizers vow to march despite ban
