Bucharest City Hall occupies main protest square with Christmas market

A Christmas market, the third to be organized in Bucharest this year, aims to remove the protests from Bucharest’s Victoriei Square.

Protests have been taking place regularly in the square in front of the Romanian Government’s building since January, when the current governing coalition made its first attempt to change important laws for the justice system. In February, Victoriei Square was the scene of the biggest protests Romania has seen in decades.

In December, the anti-government and anti-PSD slogans may be replaced by Christmas carols.

Anti-corruption protests will be banned in the Victoriei Square in Bucharest between December 2 and December 20 after the Bucharest City hall approved the organization of a Christmas market in the square during this period. The event has already received the approval of the Public Order Commission within the City Hall, according to documents consulted by HotNews.ro.

This is the first year when the Bucharest City Hall organizes a Christmas fair in the Victoriei Square. All the large squares in Bucharest will host Christmas markets in December, including the Victoriei, Universitatii and Constitutiei Square.

The law provides that two manifestations can’t take place in the same place at the same time. Victoriei Square is the main place where the anti-corruption protests have been organized this year. It is the largest square in Bucharest.

However, one last large protest could take place in Victoriei Square on December 1, Romania’s National Day.

Some 25,000 Romanians went to the streets in Bucharest last Sunday to protest against the governing coalition’s initiative to change the justice laws, which may weaken justice independence and the fight against corruption.

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(Photo by Dan Mihai Balanescu)