Ponta, who likes to point to his relative youth in order to absolve himself of any associations with the communist past, has thus proven yet again that he is not keen on breaking with the old system. More than that, he is the guarantor of its continuity.

In the 25 years since the Romanian revolution, the country has seen its share of bad politicians, and from various parties. But what happened on Sunday reminds us that Romania can still shift rapidly away from anything Europe supposedly stands for.