Royalists Call for Romanian King’s Return
Hundreds of pro-monarchy demonstrators staged a rally in central Bucharest on Friday and vowed to hold daily protests until exiled former King Michael is allowed to return to Romania.
The demonstration was triggered by the interim government’s last-minute decision Thursday to bar Michael and his family from traveling to Bucharest to celebrate Easter in what would have been their first visit in 42 years.
Michael, who abdicated in 1947 after the Communist takeover, was forced to abort the trip when Swiss Air refused to allow him to board a Bucharest-bound jetliner with a Romanian visa that had been revoked.
“It is significant that the king left Romania when the Communists got in. The fact that he’s still not allowed to return tells us who’s in power in Romania,” said one protester, medical student Simona Grigore, 22.
Dumitru Dinca, one of the organizers of the rally, said demonstrations would be held daily in Bucharest’s University Square until the interim government agrees to grant a visa to Michael, a 68-year-old businessman who now lives in Geneva.
Bucharest cited concerns over renewed political violence.
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