Wave of Discontent Grips Romania

January 17, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Romania's prime minister has warned anti-government protesters that violence will not be tolerated after days of protests in the capital Bucharest. Emile Boc's comments followed clashes on Monday, prompted by the resignation of a respected health official, Raed Arafat, over his opposition to government healthcare plans. Protesters are demonstrating against government spending cuts, the high cost of living and corruption. Al Jazeera's Nick Spicer reports from Bucharest.

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Romania

Romania is a country located at the intersection of Central and Southeastern Europe, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south. At 238,400 square kilometres,... Explore this topic

Bucharest

Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E / 44.43250°N 26.10389°E, lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than 70 ... Explore this topic

Protest

An act of defiance or objection by an individual or group of people. Protests can take many forms: peaceful or violent, direct or indirect, large or small. Protests in the news are often political in nature, as groups of citizens voice their disagreement or dissatisfaction. Pr... Explore this topic

Raed Arafat

Raed or Rayed Arafat is a Syrian-born Romanian intensive care physician of Palestinian origin. An anesthesiologist, he is the founder of Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication, as well as the coordinator of Mureş County. He is also the Minister of Health si... Explore this topic

Traian Băsescu

Traian Băsescu is the 4th and current President of Romania, serving since December 2004. Having formerly served as Mayor of Bucharest from 2000 to 2004, he was elected president in 2004, suspended from office in 2007 but reconfirmed a month later in a referendum. He was narrow... Explore this topic

Emil Boc

Emil Boc is a Romanian politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 22 December 2008 until 6 February 2012 and is the current Mayor of Cluj-Napoca, the largest city of Transylvania, where he was first elected in June 2004. Boc was also the president of the Democratic Libe... Explore this topic

Anti-austerity protests

Anti-austerity protests, chiefly taking the form of massive street protests by those affected by them and some of them also involving a greater or lesser degree of militancy, have happened regularly across various countries, especially on the European continent, since the onse... Explore this topic

Throwing stones

Throwing stones is a method of violent protest often employed against armed security forces by unarmed youths. Although rocks are used as improvised weapons in large disturbances of many types, their use as a form of protest most often appears where any response by security fo... Explore this topic

Political corruption

Political corruption is the use of power by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal ac... Explore this topic

Cost of living

Cost of living is the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living. Changes in the cost of living over time are often operationalized in a cost of living index. Cost of living calculations are also used to compare the cost of maintaining a certain standard of living in dif... Explore this topic

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