Not everyone is dissatisfied in the same way!

Although rivers of ink and toner have flowed in analyses regarding the new main axis of Romanian elections (pro-EU vs. sovereignty – sure, we can discuss these labels, but they represent an objective and multidimensional summarization of the phenomenon), we draw attention to a simple fact. What the names of the parties and doctrines say is one thing, what messages the parties propagate is another, and what the public perceives can be something entirely different. Especially when ideologies are no longer well-defined from the start.

Just over ten days ago, a package from the latest INSCOP survey circulated, from the series Barometrul informat.ro. At first glance, there are not necessarily surprises: about 70% of Romanians believe that the direction in which the country is heading is wrong, a figure that has been recorded in surveys before. This has happened in all sorts of politically blunt contexts, but the internal conflict was fueled by other electoral axes, also very polarized, but clearly not as dramatic for the European project as the current context... So what's new, you might say?

We will continue with a few small observations based on the opinion measurement mentioned above and we will comment on them, perhaps, on another occasion. To make it easier for everyone, let’s not settle for the general graph and follow here in detail ( https://www.inscop.ro/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/24.09.2025-Barometrul-Informat.ro-INSCOP-Directia-tarii-si-sursele-de-ingrijorare.pdf ):

• If, overall, 69% of Romanians are dissatisfied with the direction in which the country is heading, segmented by voting preference, 71% of PSD voters and 89% of AUR voters believe that the direction of the country is wrong. In contrast, 59% of PNL voters and 65% of USR voters are satisfied with the direction of the country. The polarization is huge and, electorally, we no longer have a national community of dissatisfied people, but two fairly simply defined camps.
• Interestingly, considering the above figures, in all age groups there is a somewhat similar level of dissatisfaction with the direction of the country, with middle-aged groups being somewhat more dissatisfied (72/73%) than the very young segment (62%), respectively than the seniors (66%). Men and women have the same level of dissatisfaction (68/69%), and by type of workplace (public/private) there are no significant differences, with similar majorities of dissatisfied people.
• More serious differences are recorded in the variable education: the lower the education level of the subjects, the more negatively they assess the direction of evolution of our country.
• PSD and AUR voters fear rising prices more than those of PNL and USR.
• Although the level of concern is relatively similar, AUR and PSD voters fear less than USR and PNL voters about the war in our area. Strange, considering certain campaign themes.

As they say, stay with us, because you don’t even know what you’re losing...