Noua Dreaptă

Noua Dreaptă (New Right)
Leader	Tudor Ionescu
Headquarters	Bucharest, Romania
Ideology	Neo-Legionarism Nationalism Distributism Third Positionism Anti-hungarian Neo-Fascism[1]
Political position	Far right
International affiliation	None
European affiliation	European National Front
Official colors	Green; Black; White
Website
www.nouadreapta.org
Politics of Romania Political parties Elections

A political sticker displaying the Celtic cross and the words "identitate naţională, revoluţie spirituală" (national identity, spiritual revolution).

Noua Dreaptă (English: New Right) is an ultra-nationalist organization in Romania and Moldova, founded in 2000.

Beliefs

The group's beliefs include militant nationalism and strong Orthodox Christian religious convictions. Noua Dreaptă's web site indicates opposition to sexual minorities, Roma, abortion, communism, globalization, the European Union, NATO, religious groups other than the Eastern Orthodox Church, race-mixing, territorial autonomy for Romania's ethnic Hungarian minority, and immoderate cultural import (including some American culture, manele music, and the celebration of Valentine's Day). They claim to be against both Marxism and capitalism, proposing a concept of "social justice" economics, following the third positionist ideology.

The members of Noua Dreaptă revere the leader of the Iron Guard in the 1930s, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. Noua Dreaptă members refer to him as "Căpitanul" ("The Captain"), which is what Codreanu's supporters called him during his lifetime.

Goals and actions

The stated ultimate political aim of Noua Dreaptă is to restore Greater Romania, which represented Romania at its greatest geographic expanse before World War II. The group also states it is strongly opposed to the principles of representative democracy, which it sees as an "inadequate" form of government. Some individual members are monarchists.

Noua Dreaptă is not registered as a political party and thereffore can not run in elections. Membership score is undocumented, but can range between 1000 and 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Some members have also engaged in violence. Incidents have been specifically reported involving physical attacks by Noua Dreaptă members against Mormons^[2][3] and gays.^[4]

Among other actions, the organization attempts to attract supporters through publicity campaigns aimed against what it sees as foreign and without any connections with the Romanian traditional heritage (and therefore negative) cultural influences - such as Valentine's Day.

Affiliations

Noua Dreaptă is part of the European National Front, an umbrella group of far-right nationalist organizations, many of which can be characterized as Fascist. The Noua Dreaptă web site includes a column of "links of interest" to numerous extreme nationalist organizations throughout Europe, including the following:

• Falange (Spain)
• National Democratic Party of Germany (Germany)
• Forza Nuova (Italy)
• Patriotic Alliance (Greece)
• National Renovator Party (Portugal)
• Renouveau Français (France)
• Srpski Obraz (Serbia)
• Nationale Alliantie (The Netherlands)
• Slovenska Pospolitost (Slovakia)
• Miscarea National Crestina Moldova (Moldova)
• Mouvement Nation (Belgium)
• National Rebirth of Poland (Poland)
• Bulgarian National Alliance (Bulgaria)
• Fiamma Tricolore (Italy)
• Bloc Identitaire (France)
• Russkii Obraz (Russia)
• Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (Austria)

Noua Dreaptă is also reported^{[citation needed]} to have ties to the following political groups:

• Eurasian Youth Union (Russia) ^[5]
• England First
• Nacionālā Spēka Savienība (Latvia)
• Jednota Slovenskej Mládeže (Slovakia)

Extremist reputation

drawing of a nationalistic stylized Celtic cross

Stamp bearing the symbol of the Iron Guard over a green cross that stood for one of its humanitarian ventures.

Noua Dreaptă uses imagery associated with legionarism, the ideology of the extreme nationalist and anti-Semitic interwar Iron Guard, which roughly paralleled the Fascist and Nazi movements in Italy and Germany, respectively. The group's symbol, for example — the Celtic cross (usually drawn on a green background) — is reminiscent of the insignia of the Iron Guard.

Noua Dreaptă has aligned itself with organizations elsewhere in Europe with strongly anti-Semitic views,^[6] although it has not focused its efforts against Romania's currently small Jewish community. Rather, the group has concentrated its rhetoric and efforts against the ethnic Hungarians, Roma, sexual minorities^[7] and minority religious faiths.^[8]

It's anti-democratic and anti-constitutional views and statements made them a permanent target of surveillance by the Directorate for the Defense of the Constitution, a department of the domestic intelligence service.^{[citation needed]}

Political rallies

In May 2006, dozens of Noua Dreaptă members were arrested by police after trying to violently disrupt the GayFest pride parade in Bucharest.^[9] Police also used tear gas to disperse counterprotesters led by individuals identified as Noua Dreaptă members.^{[citation needed]}

On 15 March 2008, on the National Day of Hungary, Noua Dreaptă organized an anti-Hungarian rally in Cluj-Napoca — an action which, after group members attacked and beat an ethnic Hungarian celebrator, led UDMR leader Marko Bela to criticize Cluj's mayor Emil Boc for approving it. In addition, two ethnic Hungarian members of the Romanian Parliament demanded the banning of Noua Dreaptă on the grounds that it continues Iron Guard's spirit.^[10]

See also

• Antiziganism
• Iron Guard
• European National Front
• Bessarabia Romanian Land

Trivia

• The organization's leader has his own rock group, Brigada de Asalt (The Assault Brigade), which specializes in ultranationalist and far right Romanian legionnaire-oriented songs.

References

1. ^ US Department of State, "2008 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Romania", February 25, 2009
2. ^ 2001 International Religious Freedom Report (Romania) — from U.S. State Department web site
3. ^ 2003 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (Romania) — from U.S. State Department web site
4. ^ gayfest 2005 - the 1st gay festival & parade in romania
5. ^ ЕСМ и румынские неонацисты объединились для борьбы против государства Украина, Lenta: Transdniestrian News Agency, 09/05/2009, accessed 15.05.2009
6. ^ Stephen Roth Institute: Antisemitism And Racism
7. ^ NOUA DREAPTA :: Pentru Dumnezeu, Neam si Tara ! (in English)
8. ^ 2003 International Religious Freedom Report (Romania) — from U.S. State Department web site
9. ^ World Crises | Reuters.com
10. ^ "Noua Dreaptă, subiect de dispută între Boc şi UDMR", in Evenimentul Zilei 17 March 2008 (in Romanian)

External links

• Noua Dreaptă official site
• Noua Dreapta Basarabia
• Bălţi: 27 Martie 1918-2010 Unification of Bessarabia with Romania
• Noua Dreapta marsh in Chisinau