Noua Dreaptă

Noua Dreaptă (English: The New Right) is an ultranationalist, far-right organization in Romania and Moldova, founded in 2000. The party claims to be the successor to the far-right Iron Guard, with its aesthetics and ideology being directly influenced by the fascist movement and its leader, Corneliu Zelea Codreanu.^[20]

New Right Noua Dreaptă
Abbreviation	ND
Leader	Constantin Nechita
Founded	2000 (2000) (as NGO) 2015 (2015) (as party)
Headquarters	Bucharest
Ideology	Neo-Legionarism[1][2] Clerical fascism[3] Romanian ultranationalism[4] Romanian irredentism[4] Christian fundamentalism Hard Euroscepticism[4] Anti-Western sentiment Anti-Hungarian sentiment[5] Anti-communism[6] Anti-Islam[7][8][9] Anti-immigration[4][10][11][12][13] Anti-globalism[14] Anti-LGBT[15] Antiziganism[4] Antisemitism[4][16]
Political position	Far-right[17][18]
Religion	Romanian Orthodox Church
National affiliation	National Identity Bloc in Europe
European affiliation	Alliance for Peace and Freedom
Colours	Green   White
Slogan	Orthodoxy and Nationalism[19]
Senate	0 / 136
Chamber of Deputies	0 / 330
European Parliament	0 / 33
Mayors	0 / 3,176
County Councilors	0 / 1,340
Local Council Councilors	2 / 39,900
Party flag
Website
nouadreapta.org
Politics of Romania Political parties Elections

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

Proclaiming itself as "radical, militant, nationalist and Christian Orthodox", Noua Dreaptă supports a merger of Romania and Moldova.^[21]

Beliefs

Former party logo

Former party flag

The group's beliefs include militant ultranationalism and strong Orthodox Christian religious convictions. Noua Dreaptă's website^[22] 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 and Halloween). They are against both Marxism and capitalism, 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.

Affiliations

Noua Dreaptă was 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:

• Danskernes Parti (Denmark)^[23]
• FE-La 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)
• Slovenská Pospolitosť (Slovakia)
• Mișcarea Național Creștină Moldova^[24] (Moldova)
• Nation (Belgium)
• National Revival of Poland (Poland)
• Bulgarian National Alliance^[25] (Bulgaria)
• Fiamma Tricolore (Italy)
• Russkii Obraz^[26] (Russia)

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

• Eurasian Youth Union (Russia)^[27]
• England First
• Nacionālā Spēka Savienība (Latvia)
• Jednota Slovenskej Mládeže (Slovakia)

As of 30 May 2018, Noua Dreaptă is a member of the Alliance for Peace and Freedom. The AFP is a far-right and ultranationalist European political party that also includes Forza Nuova, National Democratic Party of Germany, Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia and National Democracy among others.^[28]

Extremist reputation

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 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. Due to its imagery's uses and its methods, the party is sometimes described as neo-Nazi by news outlets.^[29]

Noua Dreaptă has aligned itself with organizations elsewhere in Europe with strongly anti-Semitic views,^[30] 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 (Gypsies), sexual minorities^[31] and minority religious faiths.^[32]

Its 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 detained by police after protesting the GayFest pride parade in Bucharest.^[33] 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 Béla Markó 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.^[34]

Electoral history

Tudor Ionescu, leader of the Noua Dreaptă party

Legislative elections

Election	Chamber			Senate			Position	Aftermath
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
2016	did not compete	Extra-parliamentary opposition to PSD-ALDE government (2017–2019)
	Extra-parliamentary opposition to PSD minority government (2019)
	Extra-parliamentary opposition to PNL minority government (2019–2020)
2020	3,551	0.06	0 / 329	4,345	0.07	0 / 136	29th	Extra-parliamentary opposition to PNL-USR PLUS-UDMR government (2020–2021)

Local elections

Election	County Councilors (CJ)			Mayors			Local Councilors (CL)			Popular vote	%	Position
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
2016	—	—	0 / 1,434	—	—	0 / 3,186	—	—	4 / 40,067	—	—	N/A
2020	did not compete	0 / 1,340	984	0.01	0 / 3,176	2,056	0.03	2 / 39,900	—	—	73rd

See also

• Antiziganism
• Iron Guard