{"id":12010,"date":"2026-09-16T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T07:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=12010"},"modified":"2026-09-16T07:00:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T07:00:28","slug":"romanian-president-pm-condemn-violence-at-shepherds-protest-in-bucharest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=12010","title":{"rendered":"Romanian president, PM condemn violence at shepherds\u2019 protest in Bucharest"},"content":{"rendered":"

Romanian president Nicu\u0219or Dan and interim prime minister Ilie Bolojan condemned the violence that erupted during a shepherds\u2019 protest<\/a> in Bucharest\u2019s Victorei Square on Tuesday, September 15. Demonstrators broke through police lines and protective barriers, while gendarmes used water cannons and tear gas to disperse violent groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe violence we are seeing today in Victorei Square is extremely serious,\u201d Dan said<\/a>. \u201cI firmly condemn such actions and any attempt to transform a legitimate protest into street fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several hundred shepherds from across Romania began gathering in the square before 10:00 on Tuesday. Their main grievances concerned the authorities\u2019 handling of sheep plague and sheep pox outbreaks, the culling of animals, and restrictions on sheep and goat exports imposed because of peste des petits ruminants.<\/p>\n

The protest later escalated as some participants forced their way through the gendarmerie cordon and entered Paris Street, next to the government headquarters. Some protesters threw stones, pieces of pavement, sticks, and other objects at law enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

Two gendarmerie vehicles were vandalized, while some people and properties unrelated to the demonstration were also affected, Bucharest Gendarmerie spokesperson Alex Iacob said, as reported by Agerpres<\/a>. A total of 24 people required medical assistance.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/28076992898639138<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe attacks and assaults, as well as acts of vandalism, are unacceptable and must be severely punished under the law,\u201d president Nicu\u0219or Dan said. \u201cNo grievance can justify such behaviour or endangering other citizens in the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also condemned incitement to violence and accused \u201cirresponsible politicians\u201d of attempting to amplify social tensions and divert what he described as a legitimate protest based on legitimate grievances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a democratic society, protest is a form of freedom, not intimidation,\u201d he said. \u201cViolence has never been and will never be a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate reaction, prime minister Ilie Bolojan similarly defended the right to peaceful protest while rejecting attempts to turn demonstrations into confrontations.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeaceful protests are an expression of democracy. Nothing, however, can excuse those who hijack these demonstrations and incite violence,\u201d the prime minister said<\/a>. \u201cThose who try to draw Romania into dangerous destabilization must understand that nobody wins when the country is divided by hatred and partisan interests.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several journalists were assaulted during the unrest, including members of the Realitatea Plus team and a Snoop journalist who was filming men throwing stones removed from a tram stop towards a gendarmerie barrier, as reported by News.ro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The authorities took 47 participants accused of public-order offences to police stations. A 34-year-old man was detained after gendarmes allegedly found a 20-centimetre knife in his possession.<\/p>\n

The Bucharest Gendarmerie said it could not exclude the presence of \u201cinfiltrated individuals who manipulated the broader group of protesters into causing disorder,\u201d adding that the possibility would be investigated by the competent authorities. Members and supporters of far-right party AUR, as well as supporters of former presidential candidate C\u01celin Georgescu, were seen among protesters.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reel\/1380484697531549<\/a><\/p>\n

Interim interior minister C\u0103t\u0103lin Predoiu later said public order had been restored and Victorei Square and the surrounding boulevards reopened. He praised the law enforcement response while reiterating that the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression must be exercised within the law.<\/p>\n

The government said in an official statement<\/a> that Ilie Bolojan had received the demands submitted by the Professional Shepherds\u2019 Association and discussed possible responses with deputy prime minister and interim agriculture minister T\u00e1nczos Barna. It added that some of the demands had already been raised during six meetings between sheep farmers, the Agriculture Ministry and the national veterinary authority since July 9.<\/p>\n

According to the government, animal culling has been used only in exceptional cases where no viable alternatives were available. The veterinary authority has also submitted an action plan to the European Commission seeking approval to resume sheep and goat exports.<\/p>\n

The Agriculture Ministry is examining complaints about pasture leasing procedures and developing a real-time traceability system for animal transport. It has also prepared proposals for compensation for drought damage to pastures and additional feeding costs, although the government said these measures would require funding or parliamentary approval.<\/p>\n

The government also stated that no representative association from the sheep-farming sector participated in Tuesday\u2019s protest. It said the demonstration had moved beyond the limits of peaceful assembly and called for calm and an end to the violence.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romanian president Nicu\u0219or Dan and interim prime minister Ilie Bolojan condemned the violence that erupted during a shepherds\u2019 protest in Bucharest\u2019s Victorei Square on Tuesday, September 15. Demonstrators broke through police lines and protective barriers, while gendarmes used water cannons and tear gas to disperse violent groups. \u201cThe violence we are seeing today in Victorei […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12010","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12010\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}