Cav's Place

Eighth Sunday march: Only around 100 people were around the fountain at 4 PM, which was the only time given on the event page, so it was clear we’ll need to wait for quite a while before we’ll be able to start the march. Thankfully, the numbers did grow steadily and the surprisingly well-organized percussion group also helped make the time pass more quickly, until the announcement was made that the gendarmes had advised us to march on the sidewalk and stated that they will not be joining us during the march, so if we choose to block traffic we take full responsibility for the outcome. As a result, at 5:35 PM, the known activists suggested that we try following that advice by using the underground passage as we move over to the statues, to have more space and be able to continue waiting for others, including those who had been marching for unification with Moldova earlier that day, to join. However, the fact that the fountain area was filled with people meant that we were around 4000 at the time and only a few hundred of us did use the passage, the rest simply crossing the road, which was taken as proof that the march needs to be on the street and the matter was settled without further discussions.
Once everybody had settled in the area with the statues, the Proclamations made the previous day at Campeni and Pungesti were read, which obviously took longer than some were willing to wait. In fact, it was announced that, according to tradition, they will be read three times over the course of the day, but that idea was dropped when, shortly before 6 PM, without even waiting for the Proclamation from Pungesti to be completely read even the first time, some people went back into the street and simply started marching, leaving the known activists no option other than to give the signal to get going as soon as that first reading was completed. We were around 5000 at the time.
With no gendarmes with us except those with cameras, obviously sent to “hunt” for any incidents that may be used to justify further actions against the protesters, we were pretty much on our own. Police sometimes stopped traffic until we passed, but at other times we simply trusted drivers to stop on their own and it simply worked out even though we truly made use of the freedom we had by adapting the route to the wishes of most participants. The first moment when this happened was after we reached Constitution Square, where the initial plan had us turn right, to go almost completely around the Parliament and eventually stop in front of the Senate entrance, where the march was supposed to end. However, since many people turned left instead, we simply turned left and went around the Parliament that way, the first brief stop being at 6:45 PM, in front of the Romanian Academy, the chants first thanking them for their support before we turned roughly towards the Senate entrance and got back to the usual chants as we got moving again, at 6:55 PM.
At 7:25 PM, we were on the other side of the Parliament, in front of the Chamber of Deputies entrance, where we stopped and chanted for five minutes before continuing on our way and reaching the intersection between United Nations Boulevard and Liberty Boulevard, where the known activists managed to persuade the participants to turn right in order to return to Constitution Square despite the fact that a fair number of people meant to keep going straight ahead, possibly in order to take a somewhat shorter route back towards University Square. As such, at 7:40 PM we were once again at Constitution Square, where it was initially said that the march will end. However, within no more than a few minutes, it became clear that many people wanted to keep going and return to University Square, so after a brief rest we got moving again at 7:55 PM.
Since some people peeled off after that point and it’s possible that others did keep going straight ahead at that intersection as well, the peak was most probably reached while we were going around the Parliament, at which time many protesters were estimating we were around 10000 while the mainstream media gave numbers ranging from a laughable 1000 to 5000, one source going as high as “5000 to 7000”. My own estimate at the time, made as I went around to take plenty of pictures despite having nothing but several sets of nearly empty batteries with me, was that we were at least 8000, possibly somewhat more, but likely not quite 10000. However, by Monday some of the mainstream media sources that had initially made lower estimates had updated their numbers to 5000 and the “official” page of the protests was listing 7000, so I guess I could go with 7000 as well, though I still think we probably were somewhat more than that at least at some point.
Returning to the march, probably some 4000 of us were back at University Square at 8:35 PM, where we were met and surrounded by gendarmes, who asked us to clear the road. Two of their vans also approached threateningly, but eventually they drove away. That didn’t mean that they were going to let us sit there, however, and at 9:10 PM, when those who could be intimidated by such tactics had already left and our numbers had probably dropped close to 1000, their negotiators said the orders are clear, there’s nothing to discuss, and the formal announcement that we need to leave the road was made. After that, as they realized that the people who continued to try to talk to them directly and the rest of us who were sitting on the road in front of the cordon weren’t going anywhere, and seeing as Vlad kept trying to make sure that we all knew our rights and the methods of peaceful resistance we had available, some of them walked in, left us where we were and formed another cordon behind us instead, advancing on those who were standing further back, correctly determining that those could still be intimidated.
Seeing as the group had been split and we had already successfully proven that things only get tense after the gendarmes try to step in, the protesters having caused no incidents during the entire march without any of them around, the known activists eventually made the call to leave the road and everyone was back on the sidewalk by 9:45 PM, though a few definitely weren’t happy with this decision and were making their opinion known. That also resulted in a brief but heated argument between a few more violent guys and Alex around 10 PM, after he had finished the speech he made in front of those of us who gathered at the fountain, and unfortunately at least three television crews focused on those guys, giving them a chance to present themselves as representatives of the protesters. The image problem generated by this was what the few dozen people left in front of the fountain were talking about when I left, at 10:10 PM. Perhaps some 200 were still in the area at the time, but the rest were scattered in small groups and getting ready to leave as well.
The reason I specified above that the protesters caused no incidents during the march instead of saying that there were no incidents at all was that, though I’m somewhat uncertain about the exact details, it’s clear that, at some point, a few apparently drunk people walked right to the small group of what I understand to be anarchists and, after self-identifying as fascists, one of them punched one of the anarchists, who was holding a banner against capitalism, in the face. According to some reports, the anarchists asked some of the known activists for help at that point, but they weren’t exactly helped, which actually makes quite a lot of sense if you think of the doctrine they advocate, not to mention the fact that the rest of us aren’t particularly happy to see them there either. Of course, fascists would be worse, but I believe those weren’t taking part in the march, claiming to have come from the one for unification with Moldova, though those who took part in both denied knowing or having seen them.
As a conclusion after all of this, I’ll say that the risks were significant once the gendarmes simply stepped away at the start of the march, many believing that incidents will be staged just to give them an excuse to portray us as the violent extremists certain politicians keep saying we are lately, yet everything worked out extremely well and we proved that several thousand “violent extremists” can march around the city for hours without anything happening as a result. Even at the end, though it would have definitely been better if the gendarmes wouldn’t have acted the way they did, I’ll say that the activists who eventually asked the other protesters to clear the road made the right decision, once again proving that we did not and will not cause problems if violence isn’t used against us first. However, what will happen next is anyone’s guess and we may need to rethink our course of action once force will be used.

Monday, while I did notice a small number of people apparently gathered around the fountain when I checked the webcam, there was no indication that they were protesting. As such, I’ll quickly move on to the statements made by the Prime Minister who, while on an official visit in the United States, said that he still favors shale gas, Chevron isn’t going anywhere and he’s certain that the arguments the authorities and the companies involved will bring forward will eventually persuade most current protesters to stop opposing the projects, while the “radical minority” that won’t listen can’t be allowed to impose its will.
However, while such statements make it clear that our voice is being ignored, that’s no surprise and what’s perhaps more worrying as far as the protests themselves are concerned is the fact that the very man who announced last month that a political decision was made to allow us to continue blocking roads as long as we’ll remain completely peaceful, namely the Minister of Internal Affairs, continues to make it increasingly obvious that he either changed his mind or has been forced to. In this latest statement, he said that the autorities will try to have talks with the “organizers” of the protests in order to ensure that the proper authorizations will be obtained and the protocols respected, otherwise the gendarmes will first fine those who still take to the street and then use force if needed, because the situation can’t continue and “willingly or, if necessary, by force” people must once again obey the law.

As for Tuesday, while looking at the webcam I do believe I saw a banner in the corner of the image, where a few people were once again gathered, but that’s all I know about what happened in the fountain area. Elsewhere, people discussed what to do next and an event for the ninth Sunday was created, but no options for people to vote on were listed that day, those who try to keep things together merely stating that they agree some things need to change.
As for the political scene, while talking about the many matters discussed during his meeting with Joe Biden, the Prime Minister more or less repeated the previous day’s statements and largely dismissed the protest that took place in front of the White House during said meeting by saying that he just saw three women there. In addition, the President of the Senate, his main coalition partner, also spoke at length during a television show that evening and, as far as the matters that these protests focus on are concerned, basically tried to fool those who may still be fooled, stating that he opposes these projects in their current form but citing certain details, poor communication on the part of the authorities and a justified lack of confidence on the part of the people as reasons, essentially stating that he would, in fact, be in favor if only people wouldn’t be protesting so much. Which is, once again, absolutely no surprise, seeing as he has supported these things all along and has even openly stated that he’s “too old to be an environmentalist” at some point.

The protests changed, so the format of these posts is once again changing as well. I’ll go over Monday and Tuesday very quickly, but there are daily events to report starting Wednesday, when a spontaneous protest and march took place. I won’t use the same format I used for the Sunday marches to write about that, however, so at the moment I’m considering making some changes to the way I report those as well. But that’s something I’ll need to think about later, because right now I have far too much to write and far too little time to do it.

As I said, if Monday only saw the poll with the possible routes for this Sunday’s march posted, which poll closed Tuesday at 1 PM, all plans were thrown aside by Wednesday’s events from Pungesti, where Chevron was about to start drilling to explore shale gas deposits. Of course, the fact that such work was set to start was already known and the people from Pungesti were already protesting, but seeing as the Global Frackdown was Saturday, the activists from Bucharest had scheduled an event then, and that event wasn’t even here, the plan being to go to Pungesti and show solidarity with the villagers. In addition, a gathering took place at Campeni Saturday as well, and this was directly related to the Rosia Montana issue, so the focus was on these two events in addition to Sunday’s march, meaning that doing anything here over the course of the week didn’t even seem to be on anyone’s mind until, to put it bluntly, shit hit the fan.

October 16 (another video, from a news site, and the pictures I took, just in case anyone is curious): The protesters at Pungesti, who were attempting to stop the drilling from starting, were surrounded by large numbers of gendarmes, who said they will proceed with removing them and who were also blocking the road in order to prevent others from joining the protesters. After that point, the reports regarding the behavior of the gendarmes were highly conflicting, some saying that they hit the protesters and dragged them through the mud while others simply stated that they formed a line to prevent the protesters from entering Chevron’s property and interfering with what was set to take place there. There were also reports that two old men died while three other protesters required medical attention, some saying that this was a result of the gendarmes’ actions while others that the deaths were due to natural causes and the other three people only suffered panic attacks.
Based on this, people were asked to gather at the fountain, one event, created by those whose main cause actually is fracking, being scheduled for 5 PM, and another, created by the group formed at the start of these protests for Rosia Montana, for 6 PM. There were no plans after that point and it was obvious that not even the two groups had discussed the matter, each simply reacting independently and thinking they’ll sort things out on the spot, based on the news that continued to come from Pungesti and on the numbers and the mood of the protesters who will attend.
When I got there, around 6 PM, there were perhaps slightly over 100 people and the numbers seemed to increase slowly, but they did increase, so there were 200, maybe as many as 300, when a call was made to take to the street, around 6:50 PM. The relatively few gendarmes present at the time appeared completely surprised by the move, only calling reinforcements and surrounding us after the fact, never attempting to push us back onto the sidewalk. As such, we blocked that piece of road and waited for our numbers to grow even further while trying to figure out what to do next.
At 8:20 PM, when we may well have been around 1000, we started marching, quickly reaching the Ministry of Internal Affairs and protesting there for a short while. At 8:45 PM we were moving again, reaching the Ministry of Economy at 8:55 PM, then the Government at 9:15 PM. After about ten minutes spent protesting there, our numbers having grown to around 2000, we tried to move again only for the gendarmes to try to stop us, so we had to get through two such attempts and run in order to prevent them from regrouping again in front of us before making another very brief stop, at 9:45 PM, in front of the headquarters of PSD, which is the largest party in the ruling coalition. At 9:55 PM, with no gendarmes in sight except the negotiator who had stayed with us, we were at Arcul de Triumf, where a moment which could have turned out far better was staged before we got moving again at 10:15 PM. At 10:25 PM we were at TVR, which is the state-owned television station, where we stopped for about ten minutes before continuing on our way back to University Square, the gendarmes once again forming a line in front of us during this final part of the march, briefly holding us back at Romana Square. However, since it was later reported that they had been ordered to avoid further clashes after we made it through and started running on Kiseleff, I believe that was more because the group had become quite scattered and they wanted those at the head of the column to wait for the rest to catch up than anything else, so the matter was quickly settled and we reached our destination at 11:25 PM. I left some 15 minutes later, but I heard that some remained there until at least 1 AM.
To return to the incidents that took place on Kiseleff Boulevard, when we meant to continue the march after the stop in front of the Government building, what the gendarmes did seemed more of an attempt to intimidate or provoke us than an actual effort to hold us there, seeing as it wasn’t particularly difficult to get through their line if you used the sidewalk, looked for a good moment and were sufficiently calm. That was a lot to ask from an angry crowd, however, and some of the gendarmes were already annoyed as well, so the situation was rather tense for a few moments and a furious older woman who tried to push through the line required medical attention after apparently fainting. Still, the events didn’t escalate and everything was over in a few minutes, doubtlessly thanks to the restraint urged by those who had kept cooler heads on both sides, since you could see both calmer protesters who kept telling the more furious ones to find a way around and avoid any confrontation and gendarmes who were telling their colleagues not to chase after those who were calmly slipping past them and even holding back those who seemed set on reacting to the insults and threats shouted by the particularly angry protesters.
And to also return to the other moment mentioned above, namely to our stop at Arcul de Triumf, the plan some of the known activists had made on the way was to go around the arch on both sides, march back through it, like a victorious army, then sit down and sing the anthem. However, several people started shouting that we need to say The Lord’s Prayer first and, despite the fact that many, including most of the other known activists, were saying that it was a bad idea to do so, the person who had been called to sing the anthem using a loudspeaker agreed, also making a rather confused speech about how good Romanians are also good Christians and we must remember that our ancestors knew that nothing can be done without God’s help. That resulted in a hostile reaction from a large part of the protesters, who obviously weren’t Christian and felt insulted by such statements, those who did recite the prayer being booed and shouted at. Add the fact that the person who had the loudspeaker, whose name I keep forgetting but who is otherwise very calm and collected and a good speaker, messed up while singing the anthem as well, and you’ll see why it might have been better to simply continue marching after passing through the arch.
As a conclusion, people were angry and it showed. Shouts and signs were at another level, and people were determined to do what they wanted regardless of the gendarmes, who were there in large numbers and, as I said, tried to stop us a few times. Unfortunately, this anger led to many acting hastily and to things being said, and in some cases perhaps even done, which weren’t exactly called for, but it also brought back that energy we all felt during the first half of September, which we had been noticeably losing lately. As such, seeing as the incidents weren’t serious, the good far outweighed the bad and we can say that the movement was greatly rejuvenated on that day, and also that it finally incorporated both causes more or less equally.

October 17 (also, my video, showing only parts of what happened after the Minister got to his car, but having English captions): Regarding the previous day’s events, after the dust settled and information was easier to obtain, it was revealed that the two people reported dead were, in fact, alive, one of them even being released from hospital, though the other did have a heart attack while protesting and needed to be resuscitated. Activists spoke with this second man, who said that his heart attack happened after gendarmes hit and tripped him, leaving him in the mud, and also that the other man was injured after being struck by gendarmes as well, but seeing as it was also reported for several hours that they were confirmed dead, protesters from there actually saying so repeatedly, both on camera and by phone, I’m honestly not sure what to believe.
Otherwise, Chevron announced suspending work at Pungesti and moved the equipment some kilometers away. It was just a tactical retreat, of course, and they’re using the time to move in on other areas, the first one I see mentioned being Mangalia, but while the people from Pungesti weren’t fooled and continued their protest, many others took this, and most probably also the fact that nobody was actually killed the day before, as a signal to stay home, maybe 40 people showing up at the fountain that evening and nobody actually protesting. However, it was known that the Minister of Culture was the guest of an event taking place in a nearby club at the time and messages started coming that first some ten people, then about 30, including most of the known activists, had gathered there and were challenging him about the Rosia Montana as UNESCO World Heritage Site issue and he was refusing dialogue, so most of us left to join them, at first meaning to wait outside but then quickly heading inside after the police officers who were present said that nobody is allowed to gather there.
Seeing as I didn’t actually go into the room where that event took place and, either way, probably got there after it was all over, all I know about the protest that took place during the event itself is pretty much what you see in the video I linked to above. The only other thing I can say is that, in this other area where I was waiting, people were disagreeing on what to do next, the main options being either to go back outside and wait for the Minister to leave or to try to drive him out so it’ll look like he’s running away from us, though Vlad also got in a heated argument with one guy who had the “bright” idea of seizing the Minister and holding him there.
Eventually, it was decided to head back outside, where about 70 of us ended up waiting for him to appear and his car was stopped by those who recognized his driver as he tried to slowly drive past us. The Minister came out shortly after that, well protected, and managed to make it to the car, but it took the police officers and gendarmes who had rushed to the scene a while to clear a path for them through the protesters, during which time somebody unfortunately broke the car’s rear window. I know that, while most merely chanted, stood in front of the car and placed banners or fake money on it, some people were seen hitting the windows and the others repeatedly told them to stop, but I heard one of them reply that a window can take a lot more than that and moments later he was proven wrong.
The Minister came out of the car at that point, shouting at the protesters, calling us neo-fascists and legionnaires while some were shouting back at him and others kept telling everyone to avoid touching him. Thankfully, everybody listened that time, so even he stated that he was never personally in any danger, only his car having been attacked, but the damage was already done and that did put us in a bad light. I’m saying this because I want to make it clear that, while the stones and bottles that certain mainstream media sources claimed were thrown certainly never existed and the window only broke completely when he returned inside the car and slammed the door, it did indeed do so because it was already cracked after being struck by one of the protesters, who was supposedly later identified by police.
After that scene ended and a way was finally cleared for the car to leave the area, three people were taken for questioning, though it appears that at least two were quickly released. There was a lot of confusion regarding the last one, however, even after we chased the police officers and gendarmes over a short distance and many people tried to obtain more information. Several television crews were with us at that point as well, so a few of the known activists were asked to give plenty of statements regarding what happened and, in between that and the confusion, the calls to return to the fountain and continue protesting there were ignored for quite a long time and plenty had already left before things finally seemed to be heading in that direction.
I’m not sure what happened after that point, because I peeled away and haven’t seen any reports about later, so it’s probably safe to say that, if any did return to the fountain, they were few and didn’t stay long. Also, not sure whether those who left earlier, as a group, went to have an action group meeting or, as Alina said at the time, simply meant to have a beer. It’s also quite possible that they had an action group meeting over a few beers, of course.

October 18: Some 30 people gathered at the fountain, but I wasn’t one of them, so I don’t know whether anything actually happened there or not. What I do know, however, is that the gendarmes appeared to be practicing across the road, putting on quite a show before speeding away and, according to some other reports, continuing the exercises in another location relatively nearby. Coupling this with the fact that many of the protesters who were identified as having been present during Thursday’s incident were informally called in for questioning and with the statements made by both the President and the Prime Minister, who said that cities can’t be blocked by protests anymore and the Police and Gendarmerie have full mandate to step in and clear the protesters if they break the law, including by marching on roads, it’s obvious that they’re trying to intimidate us.
At the same time, the Special Commission formed to supposedly investigate the Rosia Montana matter, which was supposed to complete its work these days, had its mandate extended by 30 days. I won’t even get into what that Commission did, the way it stalled all this time and the way it’s trying to fool people into thinking anything changed by bringing several supposedly major amendments to the proposed law; instead I’ll merely say that this obviously means there won’t be a vote in the Senate next week, which suddenly makes this Sunday’s march, which is supposed to end at the Senate, appear poorly timed. They’re clearly still waiting for the protests to die down, giving their other tactics more time to work now that they noticed that they underestimated our determination.

October 19: With probably some 200 regular protesters from Bucharest, including the vast majority of the known activists, at Pungesti and Campeni, the only event organized here in order to mark the Global Frackdown was supposed to be a flash mob at what was supposed to be the Chevron headquarters, at 4 PM. However, with everything else that happened, the event was created in a hurry and basically not checked since, the fact that a few people pointed out that we should be going to another address, since the branch that deals with shale gas is located there instead, being missed by nearly everyone. In addition, from what I got from those who actually went inside to ask, it’s possible that not even that other branch, largely dealing with oil, was located there anymore, having subleased their offices to a legal firm.
Either way, there were barely a few people there at 4 PM, wondering whether we were in the right place, though we ended up being over 50 around 5 PM, when things actually started, and the numbers eventually peaked at around 70, which was actually better than it sounds, considering how many were away and how “invisible” the place was. The police officers who arrived first said it’s supposed to be a flash mob, so we can sit around and prepare as long as we don’t block the traffic, but once we actually start protesting we have about 15 minutes before we’ll need to scatter, yet the event definitely turned into a more regular protest and lasted significantly more than that, in part due to the fact that Alex, who was the only one of the known activists to be available, had quite some speeches to give, touching upon several issues.
In addition, by the time the protest at that location did end, perhaps after about one hour, an agreement had already been reached with the gendarmes who had also showed up after the police officers, so the 50 or so of us who didn’t decide to leave right away marched towards our regular spot at the fountain. The march took place without causing any problems for traffic, as we used the sidewalk and stopped at red lights, and it was followed by some more protesting, though the numbers quickly dropped even further. I only stayed for a little while longer, leaving at 6:35 PM, and others had left even sooner, but I checked the webcam overlooking the area every 30 minutes during the evening and a few people were still there even at 10:30 PM. In fact, there were still a few on and around the benches at 11 PM as well, but there was no reason to believe they were protesters and, even if they were, they obviously weren’t protesting in any way anymore, so the day’s events can be seen as having ended by then either way.

As the week before, Monday was spent discussing the previous march and what to do next, Tuesday saw the poll with the three suggested routes being posted, and the schedule called for voting to end on Wednesday, this time at the very end of the day, though the post remained pinned for quite some time after that as well. Unlike last week, not much happened on Thursday, seeing as the fliers only arrived on Friday, so that was when the action groups met, a banner workshop taking place at the same time. On the other hand, Saturday was quite busy, members of the action groups struggling to spread awareness among college students living in dormitories while at the same time, in Izvor park, preparations for forming the leaf were made and a “loudspeaker workshop” took place, those who answered the call for some new faces leading the chants being taught the ropes by the more experienced activists.
Otherwise, the Special Commission formed to supposedly investigate the matter completed the hearings on Friday, the very last day being the second dedicated to representatives of the protesters. Of course, we still boycotted these hearings and it was clearly stated that anyone who attends will not be, or will no longer be, recognized as being part of the movement, but that obviously didn’t stop a number of people from showing up. Some of those were likely there simply to show off, but others either stated that they disagreed with the boycott or, in some cases, had somehow managed to simply be unaware of it. I even recognized one of the names, though I was hardly surprised to see that guy show off, seeing as he’s part of a religious group that keeps trying to make itself more visible and push its agenda on other movements.

Seventh Sunday march: For the first time, there was no time set for people to start gathering, the only thing announced being that the march was supposed to start at 4 PM. As expected, that proved impossible due to the very low number of people who had actually arrived at the specified location by then, so we only got moving around 4:45 PM and that meant it was almost 6 PM when we arrived at Victoriei Square, though the initial plan was to start arriving there at 5 PM, start forming the leaf at 5:30 PM and leave again at 6 PM. The fact that some activists rushed ahead and a significant number of people gathered directly at Victoriei and waited for us to join them did help us recover some time, as the leaf was formed somewhat faster than expected and we got moving again around 6:30 PM.
At Victoriei, where a relatively accurate count wasn’t particularly difficult to make, estimates ranged between 2000 and 3000, with the known activists also initially saying 3000 before correcting to 2500 by Monday. However, our numbers continued to grow later, my own estimate after we once again occupied University Square being that we were just shy of 5000, maybe 4500, which wasn’t far from the estimate of 4000 apparently made by the Gendarmerie. Still, considering the incident I’ll describe below, the peak was clearly before actually entering the Square, many activists initially claiming that we were at least 10000 at that time. Some continue to stand firm behind that number even now, though others put forward more reasonable estimates ranging between 5000 and 7000, the upper half of that range seeming fair to me as well.
As such, the turnout was disappointing compared to the other marches, the only ones that were worse being the first and the fifth, the weather obviously being to blame in this latter case. However, around three hours passed between the start and the end of the march, so we actually walked for just under two and a half hours, and the amount of support we received during that time seemed to be at least on par with what we experienced during the first ones, which lasted for three and a half or even four hours. While the fact that fewer actually joined us was disappointing, it was pleasing to see how many were waving, clapping, cheering or even displaying signs or banners as we walked past their apartments.
We reached University Square at 7:45 PM, but only the cyclists actually entered it then, the rest of us being stopped from doing so for about ten minutes. Unfortunately, though one would be inclined to expect people to want to stand their ground even longer after being held back, those who didn’t leave even before we broke through started clearing soon after, allowing the gendarmes to slowly close in and reopen the roads for traffic one by one, eventually pushing the last protesters onto the sidewalk around 9:15 PM, when probably around 200 of us were left. According to a report I saw, it was after 10 PM, perhaps even close to 10:30 PM, when the area cleared completely, but hardly anything was still happening when I left, at 9:30 PM.
Returning to the march itself, the organization was better, obviously as a result of another slight increase in the number of people trying to keep things together coupled with the decrease in the number of participants. However, the most notable achievement was forming the leaf, and relatively quickly as well, the steps taken in order to ensure that proving that the movement is becoming somewhat more mature. Granted, in itself, I personally felt that the leaf was a rather pointless little stunt and didn’t even mean to take part until I actually got there and said I might as well, but it is encouraging if seen as a sign of what may be achieved in the future.
As far as incidents go, the most notable one took place at the end of the march, when the gendarmes formed a line and kept us from occupying University Square for about ten minutes. It was odd, particularly since traffic was already blocked by the cyclists who had gone ahead and were circling around, and they didn’t do anything other than try to hold us back until enough people were determined enough to push forward to break through, but it caused quite a few to leave, worried that the situation will escalate. I also heard that a little more pushing and shoving took place after I left, perhaps involving a few protesters who wanted to get back on the road, but the only other incident I clearly know of was when the gendarmes climbed to the top of a building to remove a group of people who had displayed a banner and lit torches. I have no idea why they removed them and the situation got rather tense for a few moments, some protesters reacting to this behavior, but things quickly calmed down and the march continued peacefully.
In the end, there are good and bad things to take out of this seventh Sunday march, the good having to do with the fact that the movement seems to be maturing and those few people who keep trying to hold things together despite being challenged and accused by so many every step of the way seem to be getting slightly better at what they need to do. As for the bad, I’m not sure whether the low turnout is worse than the change in the behavior of the gendarmes or the other way around, but both are worrying developments, the fact that we seemed to get more support than we got during the past few weeks likely not making up for either of these things. Worse, numbers dropped significantly in the other cities as well and the gendarmes used force to end the Brasov protest after the county’s prefect arrived in the area.

Now we’ll see what the future holds, seeing as the challenges keep mounting and it even got to the point that people who keep rejecting the course of action set by the known activists, and perhaps any leadership whatsoever, even announced a separate seventh Sunday march, meant to counter ours. Thankfully, few paid them much attention, no real problems seem to have been caused by it and the other attacks largely stayed on-line so far, but when you add the fact that both the governing coalition and the opposition are using their arsenal to divide and dishearten us to how stupid so many people are, there are reasons for concern.
Personally, I think that some sort of leadership is not only desirable, but actually required if such a movement is to have any real chance to succeed. As such, I wish this group of people who keep trying to hold everything together, whom I so far have no reason to distrust, would take up the role much more clearly and visibly, though of course while also continuing to accept and even directly request ideas and advice from the other protesters in order to determine the best strategy. There are many things to do and the forces we’re up against have far more power, resources and experience than we do, so we need to be focused, determined and take matters one by one, not split into who knows how many little groups according to each person’s priorities, sympathies, whims and ego. Rosia Montana is merely the beginning, but we must make sure that stupidity and ego won’t turn it into the end, because they’re probably even worse threats than our opponents’ tactics.

Initially, this post was supposed to cover days 31 to 40, but there is no such thing anymore, the daily protests having stopped completely after the storm made it impossible, or at least terribly unwise, for anyone to show up last Monday and Tuesday. It was still raining Wednesday as well, but the weather started improving on Thursday and this week it was actually very pleasant, so something could have started again, but people decided to focus on the Sunday marches and on the necessary preparations, which include action group meetings on Thursday, talking to people and spreading fliers all over the city on Friday and localized events on Saturday, so the fountain area remained empty and the plans to organize protests in front of certain institutions during working hours, which had been mentioned the week before, appear to have been forgotten in the process.
What this means is that, until or unless the situation changes, there will be no point to continue having these posts follow a format that implies daily protests, so I’ll be focusing on the Sunday marches as well and only briefly mention any other related events or developments. This also implies that, instead of covering a period of five or ten days and including the march wherever it happens to fit within said period, the posts will now cover a week, starting with a short section describing what happened during the weekdays and ending with the march itself. In other words, I should have written this on Monday, but I guess it’s better late than never.

As I mentioned above, the weather stopped any further outdoor actions during the first half of the week, but a lot happened on-line, those who try to somewhat organize these protests and maintain some semblance of order deciding on Tuesday to suggest three possible, and completely different, routes for the march. People were given until Wednesday at 3 PM to vote for the one they preferred, and this was how the decision was made, one of the options winning by a significant margin. Then the fliers were printed accordingly and handed out to the members of the action groups when they met Thursday evening. The movement finally became visible outdoors once again on Friday, when activists returned to taking to people and handing out fliers in several parts of the city. Saturday, however, they focused solely on the area the march was going to start from, and also invited people to take a picture on Rosia Montana street. After all, that name was probably a large part of the reason why this route won the vote so clearly, though those who suggested it admitted that they hadn’t been aware that such a street existed in Bucharest, only accidentally spotting it on the map while searching for potential start locations in the areas the previous marches hadn’t covered.

Sixth Sunday march: The chosen gathering spot was particularly symbolic, namely the crossroads of Rosia Montana and Dezrobirii (Emancipation), and people were once again told to start arriving from 4 PM. However, the march was scheduled to start at 5 PM, so for the first time only one hour separated the two moments and that definitely reduced the number of people present when the signal was given to form the column on Dezrobirii. I’d hazard a guess that there were perhaps around 2000 there at that moment, but I unfortunately arrived late myself and at that time I was running around and trying to quickly take some pictures, so I may be well off and, either way, many others joined us very quickly.
When we arrived at University Square, the Gendarmerie, quoted by most mainstream media sources, was estimating around 6000 people, and sadly I don’t think they were far off. My initial estimate at the time, taking into account the people who were still in the Square after the entire column had walked in and the area was cordoned off, was 7000, and I saw other protesters saying similar numbers. However, many left either as soon as they reached the Square or even before that time, so that number doesn’t reflect the peak, which was either when we stopped in front of Cotroceni (Presidential) Palace or perhaps at some point on the way between Cotroceni and University Square, when some activists were estimating 15000 people and even the few mainstream media sources that attempted to make their own estimates admitted that we were over 10000. By Monday, that “over 10000” was what the vast majority seemed to have settled on, few still going as high as 15000 or attempting to be more specific, but I saw 12000 mentioned a few times and that may perhaps be closer to the truth, so I’ll go with it, seeing as I was in no state to make my own estimates on the way.
About three hours passed between the start and the end of the march, but that included perhaps around half an hour spent in front of the Presidential Palace, so about two and a half hours were actually spent marching, the pace once again being quite reasonable, which proved that the improvement noticed during the previous march wasn’t only due to people wanting to get out of the rain sooner. In addition, while I also noticed one person throwing some angry words our way, the support we received while marching through residential areas seemed greater than it had been the last couple of times, and that probably made most people feel even better about participating, though my state of mind prevented me from personally enjoying any of it.
It was just after 8 PM when we entered the Square, meeting the others who were already there at the time. Those included the small group of people protesting against the killing of stray dogs who hadn’t joined us for the march, but also those protesting against the Prime Minister removing a prosecutor working with high-profile corruption cases from office. As I stated above, people started clearing quickly and the gendarmes were able to slowly reopen the roads for traffic one by one, starting shortly after 9 PM, as the numbers were about to drop into the hundreds. Reports say around 100 people were still there at 10:15 PM and, while I’m not sure exactly when they left, I imagine the area was completely clear not long after that.
As far as organization goes, most problems were noticed as we were marching around Cotroceni Palace and, of course, when we stopped in front of it. While chants were obviously still getting mixed at other times as well, it was then that different groups actively tried to drown each other out, some directing some more vehement attacks solely at the President, others chanting against all the major parties and their leaders, and yet others meaning to keep everyone focused strictly on the Rosia Montana issue, or at most on Rosia Montana and fracking. Some didn’t even want to stop in front of the Palace, while others didn’t want to leave in order to continue the march when the signal was given to do so, but in the end those who keep struggling to keep things together managed to more or less sort everything out once again. The large number of gendarmes gathered in the area probably helped with that as well, even if indirectly, their very presence perhaps making some think twice before causing any real trouble.
The one notable incident took place in the Square, after I left, and involved the group protesting against the Prime Minister removing that prosecutor from office. It should be noted that said group initially attempted to persuade us to change the route for our march and add this cause alongside ours before deciding to hold a separate protest elsewhere at 5 PM and then gather from 6 PM in the Square when that attempt failed, while at the same time those prosecutors, and the justice system in general, is seen as being controlled by the President while this sixth Sunday march’s main event was the protest in front of the Presidential Palace, so a conflict between the two sides was to be expected. Still, most people simply wanted nothing to do with this other group and kept their distance, only a few challenging them and requiring the gendarmes to step in and separate the two sides. Some who were there said that the entire incident seemed staged, but all I know is what I saw on-line and that was that one of the known troublemakers was in the middle of it, so it’s possible that it wasn’t exactly staged, but simply another instance of people being stupid.
Overall, it could have gone a lot better, particularly in the Square, seeing as the decent weather coupled with the fact that the march ended so much earlier than the previous ones should have offered people the opportunity to stay and actively protest for several hours. At the same time, it could have also gone much worse, particularly considering the risk of conflicts, so I for one am definitely not unhappy with how it turned out. The simple fact that these protests exist, that thousands of people continue to attend, in Bucharest as well as in dozens of other places across the country and abroad, would have been completely unbelievable a mere month and a half ago, so demanding or expecting even more at this particular moment would probably be unreasonable.

What matters most is that, after the Government and the Parliament, the Presidential Palace was now added to the locations where we protested, which should have made at least some of those accusing us of taking sides think again. After all, it was normal to focus mainly on the Government and the Parliament, seeing as the President has significantly less power and influence now, but at the same time he has always been a very firm supporter of the Rosia Montana mining project and this definitely isn’t forgotten even if he now tries to capitalize on the current events and claim he opposes the law these protests started from and wishes to be a neutral mediator between the two sides. In fact, this statement was probably the main reason why the protests reached Cotroceni Palace on this sixth Sunday, because hearing him make such an offer was quite frankly insulting and not reacting to such an insult would have sent the wrong message.
Sending the right message, however, obviously caused his supporters, who had largely been trying to fly under our radar so far, looking for ways to take advantage of the situation, to start accusing us as well. Combine this with the fact that USL’s supporters continue to throw just as much filth our way and you end up with the interesting situation of having both sides actively struggle to undermine our credibility and create confusion. It’d be funny if it wouldn’t be sad, but seeing these warring factions join forces against us quite clearly proves that we’re doing something right!

After getting trashed a few times on the first scenario of the campaign, I started figuring out how to make it through Age of Wonders II and I’ve been playing a lot of that over the past few days. Yes, this means I’ll be getting right back to it after posting this, but I keep meaning to mention Sunday’s mishaps and today is probably the last chance I’ll have to do it, seeing as tomorrow I’ll have to seriously try writing the next protest update, so I’ll still have Saturday available in case I won’t manage to get it done in a single sitting.

Since days are getting shorter, the march itself was supposed to start at 5 PM, but the time set for people to start gathering was still 4 PM, so for the first time only one hour was allowed instead of two. Of course, that shouldn’t have been a problem for me, especially since the start location was on the other side of the city, so I had to take the metro either way and meant to leave around 3:30 PM, which shouldn’t have been too early and I even managed to nap a little after the race. Not even the fact that around 3:35 PM I was still replying to something on the event’s page and only managed to be out the door at 3:50 PM was too bad, as that should have still allowed me to arrive around 4:30 PM.
However, the problems started about ten minutes later, when I got to the metro station and noticed that the card, which was the one I had with me during the previous march as well and still had seven trips on it, was getting rejected. It had worked back then, wet as it was, but it refused to work again and I hadn’t taken any money with me, so I couldn’t buy another right away. That meant I had to rush back, take the money, and get back to the metro station at 4:20 PM, now in a real danger to end up being late if I’ll need to wait too long for both trains, seeing as I had to first take one to Dristor and then switch to another.
In the end, I was there at 4:55 PM, along with many others, seeing as hundreds of people were flooding towards the gathering spot around the same time, plenty of them having been on the same train. I’d have liked to have been there earlier, to have time to have a better look around the area and take some better pictures, but at least I wasn’t actually late, so I thought the day’s problems were over and I’ll be able to take part in the march without any further issues… And I was wrong.

Sure, nothing actually happened during the march itself, but at some point, shortly before 6 PM, I suddenly found myself convinced I hadn’t locked the door after rushing back out. Then, after trying hard to remember what I did at that point and being completely unable to, I started wondering whether I had even closed it or simply ran out and left it open behind me. I had no memory whatsoever of what happened between the moment I opened it to leave, when I knew the keys weren’t in my hand, and the one I took my phone out of my pocket to check the time, when I was at the bottom of the stairs, at which point I obviously didn’t have any keys in hand either.
Of course, if my parents would have been home, that wouldn’t have been any sort of issue, but they were only supposed to come back in the evening and, with my phone card expired back in May, if I remember correctly, I couldn’t tell them to try coming sooner or ask what they found if they were already back by then. So the result was that I kept worrying and coming up with increasingly dreadful scenarios, imagining what could get stolen, or that the cat would get out and be lost, or that maybe nothing else will happen but my parents will notice the door unlocked and think we’d been robbed, start searching for what’s missing, call the police and so on. I was also imagining that they were probably not sending me any message about it just so they won’t worry me when I was in the middle of that crowd, so the fact that I wasn’t getting anything only made it worse, not better.
I seriously considered rushing back, but didn’t really want to give up on the march and wasn’t entirely sure where I was in relation to any metro station until 7:30 PM, when we passed by one, and by then it was too late to bother. So I stayed there until we reached the Square, just after 8 PM, but not much more than that, leaving after only taking a few more pictures and very quickly trying to estimate the number of people who were there.

Thankfully, when I did get back I learned that I had locked the door just fine despite having no memory of it, so nothing had happened and I could finally stop worrying. My mind being fixed on this had prevented me from doing much over the course of the march, after the first hour or so, and it also made me need to rush back soon after we reached the Square, but learning that at least meant I could get over it and focus on being in a better state for this Sunday’s march, which once again seems to provide a good opportunity to stay longer in the Square after the march itself will be over, since it should also finish early and the weather is supposed to be quite good, if cloudy. After the first ones finished late, the longest even requiring me to run ahead to make sure I’ll catch the metro, the constant rain made people clear rather quickly on September 29, and the worries stopped me from staying after this last one, it’ll be about time to stick around for at least a couple of hours!