President Nicușor Dan was booed on Saturday at a ceremony in eastern Romania to celebrate the dawn of the modern day state. He reminded his detractors that the 1989 Romanian revolution that ended communism had given them the right to criticize public officials.
Romania’s National Unification Day or “Little Union” Day, is celebrated annually on January 24th marking the 1859 union of the Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia under Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza.
The union, also known as the union of the Danubian principalities, was supported by Emperor Napoleon III who aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and around the world and saw the Romanian principalities as a bulwark against the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires.
On Saturday, there were ceremonies around southern and eastern Romania including at the patriarchy, the seat of the Romanian Orthodox Church, and in a Bucharest park where former presidential candidate Calin Georgescu was met by adoring fans, rather than boos. Georgescu was disqualified from the 2024 presidential race after alleged Russian interference on the TikTok platform helped him win first place. There was a rerun of the ballot in May 2025 which Mr. Dan won.
People carried Romanian flags to celebrate the anniversary, dressed in folk costume and performed the hora, Romania’s national dance.
President Dan traveled to Focsani, a border city between Moldavia and Wallachia which was a key historical place in the Union of the two Romanian Principalities.
Located on the Milcov River, Focsani, now a city of 67,000 people, came to symbolize the union after it hosted representatives from both principalities who collaborated to create ‘the Little Union.’ In recent years, there have been events to mark the holiday.
‘The Little Union’, a major national achievement, also had international support from Emperor Napoleon III of the French who wanted a bastion in Eastern Europe that was favorable to his policies and would counterbalance Russian expansion and contribute, together with Italy, to the undermining or even dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
On Saturday, responding to his boos during his speech and remembering Romanian history, the president said Romanians had the right to contest public officials, but also a responsibility.
“Happy unification day, dear people from Focșani who booed the public authorities. It is a right that you have won, it is a right for which some people have died,” referencing Romania’s anti-communist revolution, President Dan said after he was booed and some called for him to resign.
“However, this right also comes with a responsibility,” he went on. “The responsibility is to look at who are the people in whom you place your hopes. Don’t just think about step 1, think about step 2 as well. You have a responsibility for yourselves, for your children, you have a responsibility for the whole of Romania,” he concluded.
Since the 14th century, Moldavia and Wallachia had been principalities in Eastern Europe. In 1859, Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected as ruler in both principalities, creating the Union of the Romanian Principalities.
The official name of the country after the union was The Romanian United Principalities. In 1866, it was renamed Romania, and then the Kingdom of Romania in 1881.
This unification is seen as a key event in the formation of the Romanian national state. Almost 60 years later, Transylvania, Banat, Crisana and Maramures joined Romania.
This second union event on December 1, 2018, is commemorated by Grand Union Day, the National holiday of Romania.
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