Hundreds of protesters gathered in central Bucharest on Friday and Romania prepared to deploy riot police over the weekend after anti-austerity demonstrations demanding the government resign turned violent. Romania had until this week suffered little of the unrest which has rocked other austerity-hit European countries like Greece.
The violence has been limited, but is still the country's worst in more than a decade. About 7,000 opposition supporters marched through Bucharest on Thursday, while at a separate demonstration later in the day police fired tear gas and protesters threw bricks and bottles. Police detained about 100 people after that protest in University Square.
"I no longer support this regime: theft, lies and hypocrisy. I quit my job to protest here day and night," said Bogdan Essig, 47, back in the square on Friday in freezing temperatures.
Interior Ministry spokesman Marius Militaru said it was hard to tell whether there would be more protests over the weekend. "All I can tell you is that we will line up riot police for public order on the downtown streets." The demonstrations began after Basescu criticised the popular deputy health minister, who resigned. The minister, Raed Arafat, has since been reinstated in a so far failed attempt to calm the situation.
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