About four thousand people protested in Bucharest Victory Square, in front of the Romanian Government HQ on Wednesday. The protest organized by Cartel Alfa, a major trade union, brought together employees from health, transport, police, steel and petrochemical sectors. Trade unionists from the mining, energy, insurance and banking sectors were also there.
The people gathered in the market came equipped with whistles, drums, banners and flags to protest a series of welfare policies announced by the government, which they said were threatening the national welfare system.
The protests targeted the Social Democratic (PSD) government, its ministers, PSD leader Liviu Dragnea, but also the opposition for "failing to exist" and non-governmental organisations, especially the ones "controlled by [US businessman George] Soros".
