In The Romania Journal, the Authoritarian Populism Index 2026 by Timbro and EPICENTER, presented in Romania by the European Institute for Economic Studies (IES-Europe), was reported to place Romania third in Europe for support for authoritarian populist parties, behind Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. The Index examines four Romanian parties in detail (PSD, AUR, S.O.S. Romania and POT) and includes three of them, AUR, S.O.S. Romania and POT, among the 18 parties across Europe classified as strongly authoritarian. The report describes Romania’s party system as one of the most volatile in Central and Eastern Europe.