'We had jobs': Rural Romania turns to faith and nationalism ahead of presidential election rerun

SASCHIZ, Romania (AP) — In a picturesque village in central Romania, 83-year-old Zoica Roth bemoans the lack of opportunities for young people and says she's not convinced that an upcoming presidential election can help stem the desertion of the countryside.

“I have two girls and two boys. I only see them once in the summer and once at Christmas because they’re all abroad,” she told The Associated Press in the courtyard of her farmstead in Saschiz, in Mures county. “The only solution is to leave ... I miss them.”

Anger toward Romania’s political establishment in recent years has fueled a surge in support for far-right figures in the European Union and NATO member country, reflecting a broader pattern seen across Europe.

In last year’s election, the far-right front-runner Calin Georgescu, who is now under investigation and barred from the rerun, won strong support among rural communities as well as 43% of the vote in Romania’s large diaspora, with his calls to patriotism and emphasis on faith resonating.

Georgescu’s policy proposals included supporting local farmers, reducing import dependence, and ramping up domestic energy and food production. “He was a good one,” Roth said, adding that a top court’s decision to cancel the election on Dec. 6 was “pretty messed up.”

She also feels let down by the choice of the 11 candidates in Sunday's election rerun. “There’s nothing to choose from, they’re all the same," she added.

A communist country until 1989, development across rural Romania has lagged behind that of cities. In a country of about 19 million people, some 45% of Romanians live in the countryside, which often lacks jobs and basic infrastructure.

After joining the EU in 2007, millions of Romanians — including Roth's family — moved abroad in search of better opportunities, tearing apart countless families. Like many older generation Romanians, Roth now fondly remembers life during communism.

“It was good back then, we had places to work, we had jobs,” Roth said. “Now I have my pension, but the young ones coming up have no jobs, nowhere to work. They leave with their bags on their backs … to foreign countries.”

Monica Rosalea, 41, works the land at home in Saschiz to make ends meet and periodically works in Germany.

“It’s hard because there’s no work … we all go abroad,” she said. “We have children, how are we supposed to raise them? We’re forced to leave them at home. The little money you bring from abroad, you spend it all here … everything is so expensive.”

Rosalea voted for Georgescu last year. “I didn’t choose him alone … everyone voted for him. But then look what happened,” she said. “I honestly don’t know who I’d vote for now. There are no real options.”

In 2023, employment in Romania's rural areas was the lowest in the EU, with just 61% of working-age people in work, according to the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat. Over the past decade, youth unemployment has fallen across most of the EU, but it has also risen in Romania’s rural areas.

For 23-year-old Alexandra Todea, who works as a logistics administrator at a local preserves factory in Saschiz, Georgescu’s messages resonated because he saw the “potential of rural areas,” which offered people hope that things could improve.

“If the Romanian state supported us young people more … then there would be no need to leave and go to another country to make something of ourselves," she said. "We do have potential, it’s just that no one invests.”

Like many Romanians for whom Georgescu’s messages struck a chord, Todea questions the legitimacy of canceling the election and feels robbed of her previous vote. “Unfortunately, that right was taken from me,” she added.

Her colleague, Aliz Alamorean, 23, bucked the trend by moving back to Romania this year after living in Spain since she was five. “I didn’t feel like a stranger, but I didn’t feel at home either,” she said, adding she would vote for Georgescu if he were allowed to run again.

“The same people always have to win, and when they saw the ‘wrong’ one was winning — they canceled it,” she said, listing the economy as her main concern. “If I see it’s not working out, I’ll pack my bags and go back,” she added.

Life in rural Romania is often shaped by traditions, faith, and community ties, but the challenges are stark. A lack of opportunities, underdeveloped schools, and poor access to healthcare can deepen a sense of abandonment by the political class.

A week after the Nov. 24 presidential first round, Alamorean voted for the hard-right nationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, in a parliamentary election. AUR proclaims to stand for “family, nation, faith, and freedom," and doubled its support.

The party's leader, George Simion, came fourth in last year’s race and later backed Georgescu, and is widely viewed as his successor in the upcoming ballot. A median of polls suggests he will enter a runoff on May 18.

Across the countryside, many Romanians still work the land, tending to their crops and animals. But in rural communities, where 90% of households rely on firewood to heat their homes, not everyone will exercise their right to vote.

“I only have three years of school,” said shepherd Attila Agostun, 46, who has never voted, as he watched over his flock grazing the verdant pastures near the village of Cund. “All my life has been with animals … that’s where I grew up.”

The risk of poverty or social exclusion in Romania’s rural communities is 45%, 26 percentage points higher than in cities, according to Eurostat.

Faith plays a central role in rural communities, where the Orthodox Church has a strong presence, offering hope.

In the remote village of Floresti on a bright spring day, birdsong fills the courtyard of Liliana Cosurean, 54, as she lays out a spread of local cheese and homemade jam. She says she is happy living among forests and rolling hills, which she calls “a little corner of paradise,” where slow tourism has brought some positive change.

But she acknowledges that the recent political turmoil has divided people. “There seems to be a certain tension in the air, and I hope it settles down for the sake of the young people,” she said. “I sincerely hope things will remain peaceful and won’t fall apart.”

She did not want to say who she voted for in the previous race, and isn’t sure if she’ll vote on Sunday. She described Georgescu as “a man with a kind heart and a fear of God,” and believes he inspired trust because he spoke openly about faith.

“That might be the thing that could unite us,” she said. “Faith can move mountains … a person who has faith can do anything.”

A presidential campaign poster is placed on a door in the village of Floresti, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Aliz Alamorean, 23, who recently moved back to Romania after living in Spain since she was five, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press, at the preserves factory where she works in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

A picture of a religious icon hangs on the wall of a courtyard building at the home of Liliana Cosurean, 54, in the village of Floresti, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Children ride bicycles in the village of Floresti, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Monica Rosalea, 41, who periodically works abroad, sits on a wooden bench in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Alexandra Todea, 23, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at the preserves factory where she works as a logistics administrator, in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

A mobil phone is charging outdoors at the home Zoica Roth, 83, in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

A man cuts grass in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

A tractor is parked outside a row of houses in the village of Floresti, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Liliana Cosurean, 54, stands in the yard of her home, in the village of Floresti, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Sheep and goats graze near the church in the village of Floresti, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Liliana Cosurean, 54, stands in her home, in the village of Floresti, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Potatoes on sale hang in a bag outside a house in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

People walk on a road in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

The three-legged cat of Zoica Roth, 83, walks to her home in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Zoica Roth, 83, stands outside her house in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

A presidential campaign poster is placed on a door in the village of Floresti, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Firewood is stacked outside a house in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

Zoica Roth, 83, pets her three-legged cat in the village of Saschiz, in Romania's central Transylvania region, Friday, April 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Stephen McGrath)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.

Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after activists reported more than 500 have been killed — the vast majority of them demonstrators.

Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)