Country Report: Romania July 2026 - EUROPE SAYS
The deportation of Iasi pogrom survivors by Romania’s Antonescu Regime in 1941, and the disposal of those who died en route. Credit: Historisches Archiv der Stadt KolnGenocide Watch Country Report: Romania. . .
The deportation of Iasi pogrom survivors by Romania’s Antonescu Regime in 1941, and the disposal of those who died en route. Credit: Historisches Archiv der Stadt KolnGenocide Watch Country Report: Romania 2026In September 1940, General Ion AntonescubecamePrime Minister of Romania, with the support of the fascistIron Guard movement. Antonescu’s Government from 1940 until 1944 was allied to the Third Reich anddirectly participatedin the Shoah. The Antonescu Regime murdered an estimated380,000-400,000 Jewsthroughout the Second World War. Despite Calin Georgescu’s arrest, the far right continues to strengthen in Romania. At35%,Romania’s largest far-right party, the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), is by far the most popular party in Romania. The party openly portrays Georgescu as a victim of Romania’s elite, with its leader, George Simion, calling for“those who committed the coup to be skinned in public for what they did”. It also describes the Shoah as aminor topicthat does not need to be taught in schools, polarizing the memory of WWII. The country has clear laws against Shoah denial, but they arerarely enforced. Notably, Romania only adopted amandatory curriculumincluding Holocaust education in 2021. An Elie Wiesel Institute poll conducted in 2023 showed that only11% of Romanian respondentsknew that the Holocaust had also taken place in Romania. This showcases the need for Holocaust education reform in Romania. Romania continues to experience de facto discrimination against its Romani minority. Despite Romania’s efforts to desegregate schools, in practice, segregation has worsened. In 2022,55% of Romani childrenattended schools where either all or most of their peers were Roma, as compared to 26% in 2016. A 2008 UN study found that Roma-majority schools haveworse facilities and less qualified staffcompared to their non-Roma majority counterparts. Additionally, several Romanian municipalities effectively denied Roma individualsaccess to social housing. Genocide Watch assesses that Romania is at Stage 3: Discrimination due to its de facto segregation against the Roma minority in schools and social housing. It also assesses that Romania is at Stage 10: Denial, for the minimization of the Shoah and the glorification of its perpetrators, as demonstrated by high-profile Romanian politicians. Genocide Watch recommends:Building on the country’s newly developedHolocaust curriculum, Romania should produce additional educational programming for adults on the Holocaust on the country’s state TV channel, TVR. Romania’s Ministry of Justice should work to enforceexisting lawsagainst antisemitism. Romania’s Parliament could assist in this by introducing mandatory minimum sentences for antisemitism and other hate crimes. To deal with the problem of a lack of prosecutorial experience in this field, Romania shouldcollaboratewithfellow EU member statesto train prosecutors in the skills needed to prosecute antisemitism. Romania’s Ministry of Education should launch a transparent investigation of Romania’s desegregation programs in schools to understand why segregation targeting the Roma community remains prevalent in the country. Country Report Romania July 2026. pdfDownload PDF • 110KB