About 150 Romanians joined a demonstration in Paris on Sunday to show their support for Romania’s suspended President Traian Basescu, whose fate as head of state will be decided in a referendum later this month. Similar protests will take place in Madrid and Castellon, Spain next Saturday as several associations of Romanian workers there have announced.

Protesters in Paris said they were not representing any association or organization and that they attended the demonstration following an online appeal to Romanian citizens living in the French capital.

They protested against how the Romanian Parliament understood to move against President Traian Basescu by calling a referendum for his dismissal on charges that he broke the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court said he did not do so in any of the cases raised by hostile MPs, but as the Court’s say was non-binding, the Parliament voted with a majority of votes to suspend him and call a referendum to have him dismissed from office.

Protesters in Paris argued that the President was elected by direct and universal vote in free and democratic elections by the Romanian people. They urged opposition representatives and business moguls to abandon their political life and “stop harassing the modernization of the Romanian society”.

Similar protests are expected to take place in Madrid and Castellon in Spain this week, the organizers - associations of the large Romanian community there - have said. Daniel Tecu of the Association for Economic and Cultural Development of Romanians in Spain told HotNews.ro that the demonstrations have already received official approvals. Romanians from all communities across Spain are expected to join them, he said.

A first demonstration will take place in Madrid this weekend, to be followed by one in the Plaza Auditorium in Castellon, Comunidad Valencia.