Cristian-Vasile Terheș (born 4 December 1978) is a Romanian politician and journalist, serving as leader of the Romanian National Conservative Party since 2023, and a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

since

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Terhes was initially a member of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD), before joining the

Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party The Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party (, PNȚCD) is an agrarianism, agrarian and Christian democracy, Christian democratic list of political parties in Romania, political party in Romania. It claims to be the rightful successor of t ...

(PNȚ-CD) in May 2020, as well as becoming a member of the European Christian Political Movement (ECPM).

Biography

Born in

Zalău Zalău (, unofficial and former official name: (; or , , ) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2021, its estimated population was 52,359. History Ancient times Zalău is situated in the area inhabited by "Free Dacians", away from the h ...

, he studied theology at

Babeș-Bolyai University The Babeș-Bolyai University ( , , commonly known as UBB) is a public research university located in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Established in 1581 as Academia Claudiopolitana, it underwent several reorganizations over the centuries, eventually taking ...

Cluj-Napoca Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

, and was consecrated priest of the

Romanian Greek Catholic Church The Romanian Greek Catholic Church or Romanian Church United with Rome is a '' sui iuris'' Eastern Catholic Church, in full union with the Catholic Church. It has the rank of a Major Archiepiscopal Church and it uses the Byzantine liturgical r ...

Oradea Oradea (, , ; ; ) is a city in Romania, located in the Crișana region. It serves as the administrative county seat, seat of Bihor County and an economic, social, and cultural hub in northwestern Romania. The city lies between rolling hills on ...

. He then studied journalism at

Fullerton College Fullerton College (FC) is a public community college in Fullerton, California. The college is part of the California Community Colleges System and the North Orange County Community College District. Established in 1913, it is the oldest communi ...

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and S ...

and worked at Santiago Canyon College in

Orange, California Orange is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. It is approximately north of the county seat, Santa Ana, California, Santa Ana. Orange is unusual in this region because many of the homes in its Old Town District ...

. He settled in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

, and became a clergyman at a Greek Catholic Church there, but also worked as a business analyst. Terheș was involved in Romanian politics, especially in opposition to the ruling PSD, which he called

corrupt Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

. He became famous in 2012, when he was part of the referendum campaign on the dismissal of

Romanian President The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a Romanian politician who served as the president of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian minister of transport on multiple occasions between 1991 and 2000, ...

; he lobbied for Băsescu (who was opposed to the Social Democrats) in the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

. In 2014, Terheș opposed the election of

Victor Ponta Victor Viorel Ponta (; born 20 September 1972) is a Romanian politician and jurist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from 2012 to 2015. He was president of the Social Democratic Party (Romania), Social Democratic Party (PSD) from 2010 to ...

(from the PSD) as president. In 2016, he became a regular commentator on the Antena 3 television station affiliated with the PSD and on

România TV România TV is a 24-hour Romanian news television with conservative and nationalist orientation, launched on 23 October 2011 by former entrepreneur and politician Sebastian Ghiță. Its slogan is "We give the exact news!" (). Initially known as ...

. At the same time, he became a supporter of the ruling PSD, in his public comments he supported the suspension of the liberal national president

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former teacher who served as the fifth president of Romania from 2014 until his resignation in 2025. Prior to entering Politics of Romania, national politics, ...

. In 2019 he ranked fourth on the PSD list for the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

and was elected a member of the European Parliament. Due to political activity incompatible with his status as a priest, the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of Oradea Mare released him in 2019 from the exercise of priestly functions. In May 2020, Terheș declared his transition to the National Peasant Christian Democratic Party and the

European Conservatives and Reformists group The European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR Group or simply ECR) is a Euroscepticism#Soft Euroscepticism, soft Eurosceptic, anti-European Federation, federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary ...

. On 11 November 2021, he lodged an application with the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

protesting various measures taken by the Romanian government to tackle the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, alleging a violation of Article 5 (the right to liberty and security). His application was rejected by the ECtHR on grounds of inadmissibility, with the Court noting that the measures "could not be equated with house arrest" and that Terheș had failed to explain their impact on his personal situation. In February 2022, he criticized in a press conference

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

's handling of the

Canada convoy protest The Canada convoy protest, known as the Freedom Convoy (French: ''Convoi de la liberté'') was a series of protests and blockades across Canada in early 2022, initially organized to oppose COVID-19 vaccination in Canada, COVID-19 vaccine man ...

, comparing him with

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

. In August 2023, he accused the European Union of introducing an "Orwellian ministry of truth" to tackle fake online news. Terheș is known for his statements about what he thinks are ills of

COVID-19 vaccinations A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19, COVID19). Knowledge about the structure ...

and

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

-related restrictions in Romania. He used a speech in September 2021 in the European Parliament to state that coronavirus experimental vaccines are not safe. In July 2023, it was announced that Terheș would be a candidate for the

Alliance for the Union of Romanians The Alliance for the Union of Romanians (, AUR) is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in Romania and Moldova. It was founded in 2019 ahead of the 2020 Romanian local elections, 2020 Romanian local and 2020 Romanian legisl ...

in the

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Terhes, Cristian 1978 births Living people People from Zalău Babeș-Bolyai University alumni Fullerton College alumni Romanian Greek-Catholic priests MEPs for Romania 2019–2024 Social Democratic Party (Romania) MEPs Social Democratic Party (Romania) politicians Christian Democratic National Peasants' Party politicians COVID-19 conspiracy theorists Romanian conspiracy theorists Romanian nationalists European Christian Political Party politicians Candidates for President of Romania MEPs for Romania 2024–2029