The Economist magazine wrote about the protests in Romania and quoted a banner that appeared in Bucharest’s Universitatii Square, which says :” Now is the winter of our discontent—Suckerspeare.”

Even if the Romanians have been called “worms", "violent and inept slum-dwellers", and "suckers", “hundreds of them, exasperated with austerity measures, political incompetence and lack of public consultation over laws, keep coming out on to the freezing winter streets of Bucharest and other Romanian cities to urge the president and government to resign,” starts The Economist.

The magazine also remembers the Romanian President’s first speech since the protests started in Romania, held on January 25: “He said that austerity was needed to restore Romania's economic health, and complained that it was "unfair" to be labelled as a "dictator", as some protestors have done.”

Read the entire article of the magazine here.

Former Romanian minister of foreign affairs Teodor Baconschi called the protestors "violent and inept slum dwellers". He was promptly fired by the Prime minister Emil Boc on January 23. National Union for Romania’s Progress party Senator Cristian Diaconescu took over as Minister of Foreign Affairs as of January 24, 2012.

The street demonstrations in Romania started after the resignation of Raed Arafat, Under-Secretary of State in the Ministry of Health, on the proposed health law. The protests turned against Romanian President Traian Basescu, demanding his and the Government’s dismissal and early elections. Meanwhile, Arafat returned to the Health Ministry in his old position. Despite the bad weather conditions in Romania, protests have continued.

Read more about the protests in Romania here.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com