Romania currently holds the presidency of the European Union. Alarmed that the minister responsible for research in our nation, Nicolae Hurduc, questions evolutionary theory (see, for example, go.nature.com/2ks6ckp; go.nature.com/2uqn7g2), we took action.

Our association, Ad Astra, promotes high-quality research in Romania and therefore we sought the advice of eight evolutionary biologists to help counter any resulting public misunderstanding (see go.nature.com/2wz96ph). We issued a press release explaining the compelling scientific evidence for the theory of evolution by natural selection and the clear scientific consensus that humans and chimpanzees share a common ancestor (see go.nature.com/2ugpirw).

With Romania’s scientific community, and society in general, starting to recover three decades on from the collapse of communism, we find the research minister’s views unacceptable.