The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), is currently embroiled in an unprecedented internal scandal involving allegations of mafia-style intimidation. Marius Lulea, the founding president and an key figure of the party, has publicly accused the current party leader, George Simion, of orchestrating a severe death threat against him and his family.
The Incident: A Severed Pig’s Head and a “Diabolik” Poster On Sunday, Marius Lulea reported finding a severed, bloodied pig’s head at the gate of his family home in Tunari, a town near the capital city of Bucharest. Alongside the macabre discovery, a threatening poster featuring the Italian comic book criminal “Diabolik” was found glued to his gas meter.
AUR’s founder Marius Lulea promptly filed a formal police complaint, treating the act as a direct threat to his life. In his public statement, he drew parallels between the incident and historical intimidation tactics: “I consider what happened to be a death threat that must be treated with maximum seriousness by the Romanian state authorities. Gluing posters in front of the homes of those considered adversaries brings to mind the intimidation practices of the Sicilian mafia, but also the methods used during the Nazi era to identify, stigmatize, and intimidate opponents.”
Lulea explicitly named George Simion as the prime suspect, stating simply: “I know him well.”
The conflict stems from a deep fracture within the party’s leadership, as several founding members have recently criticized Simion’s authoritarian leadership style. According to Lulea and local reports, security cameras in the area allegedly captured a white Dacia Logan—a vehicle officially registered to the AUR party itself—operating near his home during the night of the incident. This has led to accusations that official party logistics are being repurposed to harass internal dissidents.
This event does not appear to be isolated. Claudiu Târziu, another key co-founder of the party who has recently been sidelined, reported a similar experience. Târziu filed a formal complaint after noticing an AUR-registered car equipped with a video camera parked for extended periods outside his political headquarters, an act he described as a blatant form of surveillance and intimidation.
George Simion has denied any involvement in the incident. In his initial reaction to the Romanian press, the AUR leader claimed complete ignorance and suggested the event was fabricated to damage his image. “I have no idea. What colleague? It is probably a new form of attack from the Marius Lulea – Realitatea TV [a local news network] tandem; we expect anything,” Simion stated.
Later, as the scandal gained national traction, Simion published an extended statement on his social media platforms. He attempted to shift the focus toward the country’s economic struggles, complaining that the media is fixated on “pig’s heads” rather than taxes, national debt, and factory closures. Simion portrayed himself as the victim of a coordinated media and political conspiracy orchestrated by former colleagues and political rivals.
Romanian law enforcement agencies have opened an official criminal investigation into the threats made against Marius Lulea, and they are currently analyzing the surveillance footage. The incident has deeply shocked the Romanian public, exposing a highly volatile and potentially dangerous rift at the very top of the AUR party.
