The latest CURS Survey – A Sociological Mirror of Today
Most of the Romanians believe the country is going in the wrong direction
Bogdan Matei, 30.10.2026, 13:50
77% of the Romanians believe their country is moving in the wrong direction, 18% believe the direction is right, whereas 5% had no say, shows the latest survey conducted by the Center of Urban and Regional Sociology, a.k.a CURS, in the context of the newly-instated PSD-dominated government headed by diplomat Luca Niculescu.
According to the source, cutting prices and the cost of life are the respondents’ main demands for the incumbent government, being mentioned by 41%. Raising salaries and pensions comes next as it has been mentioned by 39% of the respondents and it was followed by cutting taxes and duties, supported by 27% of them.
Curbing the budget deficit and state expenses has been mentioned by 23% of the respondents and the reform of the administration by 22%. 21% has mentioned the improvement of healthcare services and education while rising investment and economic growth seem to be a priority for 13% of those interviewed.
From an election viewpoint, the nationalist opposition AUR, has been credited with 34% of the voting intentions, followed by the PSD with 26. The PNL, which has recently joined the opposition, has been credited with 16% whereas the USR gets 8.
The other political groups have got 5% at the most – as this is the election threshold, which gets one Parliament seats. The poll was conducted over October 22 and 27 on more than one thousand respondents aged over 18 who are representatives for Romania’s adult population at present. The error margin is around 3% and has a trust level of 95%. Besides opinion polls, press commentaries and analyses have revealed that frustration, anxiety and nervousness are dominant in the Romanian society.
Early this week, representatives of the employers’ association called on the country’s Prime Minister, Luca Niculescu, to reduce the fiscal burden on entrepreneurs without further raised taxes and duties.
The National Union Bloc, (BNS) has also called on the head of the government to meet trade union representatives after his talks with the employers. Trade unionists say that the interests of the roughly five million workers in Romania have been ignored and have called for a balanced social dialogue, which should be focusing also on salaries, purchasing power and working conditions. The BNS cautions against the economic reforms, which cannot be constructed without consulting the employees’ representatives and is waiting for the government to prove with facts that it really attaches importance to the social dialogue. Trade Unionists with the company operating the Bucharest’s Underground have even been more direct. They have been calling for pay rises and are threatening with a strike, which might throw the entire city in chaos as thousands of commuters are mainly depending on this means of transportation. And that could be only the beginning, because in post-communist Romania, autumn has traditionally been the season of major trade union protests.
(bill)
