The Alliance for the Union of Romanians and the 2024 European elections: the strategy of a radical party

The relatively unknown Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) burst on the Romanian political stage in late 2020, winning 47 parliamentary seats. Initially, commentators and political analysts were willing to dismiss its success as just another "wonder party", creating a surprise during one election but afterwards declining fast and disappearing in one or two election cycles. However, by advocating a stronger sense of ethnic-based nationhood, supporting traditional values and a deeper role for conservative Christianity in shaping society, opposing identity politics as well as being sceptical towards increased euro-atlantic integration while being less than supportive of the Ukrainian position through its war with Russia, the radical political party proved more popular than initially imagined. Though a skilled media presence and through a grassroots campaign in rural areas and economically deprived communities, the AUR strategists rode the wave of discontent caused by COVID-19 as well as by the energy crisis, high inflation and the consequences of the Russo-Ukrainian war. Entering 2024, AUR is either the second or the third party in the polls, with double the figures it got in 2020. This paper will analyse AUR’s strategy in the particular context of the European Parliament elections of June 2024. It will focus on official positions of its leaders, on social media campaigns, traditional media outlets such as the party newspaper as well as the activity of its members in the Romanian diaspora and particularly in poor areas of the country, where it expects to gain a substantial number of votes. Our aim is to identify the main messages and approaches of AUR towards reaching its potential voters in a very competitive political field. We also want to investigate how AUR relates to similar right-wing, nationalist and eurosceptic parties in their own attempts to strengthen their position in the European Parliament.