January 12: Protests against President Traian Băsescu and government begin with over 3,500 people attending the revolt in Bucharest and thousands others protesting in additional cities, like Timișoara, Cluj-Napoca, Constanța or Iași.[2] Following these street demonstrations, over 60 people were injured and other 240 citizens were arrested by the Romanian Gendarmerie.
January 24: A violent blizzard ravages Romania, killing 86 people. The lowest temperature in recent decades, −32.5 °C (−26.5 °F), was recorded this winter at Întorsura Buzăului, in Covasna County.
February 6: Prime Minister Emil Boc resigned from office amid ongoing anti-austerity protests.[3]Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu was given a mandate by President Traian Băsescu to form a new government. He will have to pass his formed cabinet through the vote of the Parliament or else he must return the mandate to the President. Ungureanu vowed to continue reforms and promote Romania's economic and politic stability amid current continuing crisis.
February 13: NanosatelliteGoliath was successfully launched into space. This is the first satellite of Romania.
February 19: A series of explosions take place in a club in Sighetu Marmaţiei (Maramureș County). Following the deflagration, a citizen was killed and other 20 people were injured.[4]
March 5: A MAI employer shot eight people in a hair salon, Bucharest. Following the massacre, two people died and six others were seriously injured. The attacker was arrested for murder. He received the mandate for 24 hours. In 2005, the attacker has been charged with violence, but was acquitted.[5]
March 19: A series of devastating wildfires burst out in several counties. At least a man died after falling in fire started by him.[6]
April 14: A devastating fire broke out at a commercial complex in Iași. During the intervention, two firefighters suffered burns and were intoxicated by smoke. The building collapsed to 10 hours after the outbreak of fire.[8]
April 15: County road 205D collapsed on a stretch of about 50 m due to landslides caused by heavy rains in recent days. At least 4,000 people in the communes of Nereju and Spulber (Vrancea County) are isolated. Affected villages remained without electricity, gas and drinking water.[9]
April 26
A helicopter crashed near the village of Ostrov (Tulcea County), due to a failure on board. All five passengers died carbonized.[10]
An overloaded passenger bus has overturned from a gangway near the town of Mioveni (Argeș County). 30 of 38 passengers on board were hospitalized.[11]
April 27: The government has been unseated in a no-confidence vote, just two months after taking office. The opposition seized on public anger over austerity measures to oust prime minister Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu. President Traian Băsescu designated left-wing opposition leader Victor Ponta as new prime minister.[12][13][14]
June 6: Severe windstorms, thunderstorms and hailstorms hit Romania. Several localities were flooded due to heavy rains in late-May and early-June. Roads were blocked due to landslides and rockfalls. At least five people were killed from the break out of violent storms.[17]
Five people died and another one was wounded following an accident involving two freight trucks and a passenger car near the village of Limpeziș (Buzău County). One of the trucks caught fire. The circulation on European route E85 was blocked for four hours.[19]
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 6 km SW Nereju (Vrancea County), at a depth of 113 km.[22] The tremor was felt from Chișinău to Sofia. No reports of damage or casualties.
July 18: 18 people were injured in an accident involving two trams in Bucharest's Rahova neighbourhood.[23]
August 10: Eight people were killed and seven others were injured, following an accident, in which were involved four vehicles. One of them caught fire.[24]
August 12: 1,000 tourists feared to be infected with HIV after having sex with a prostitute in Constanța County.[25]
August 21: The Constitutional Court of Romania decided to invalidate the results of the referendum for the impeachment of President Traian Băsescu.[26]
August 27: One man died and another 18 were injured, after a passenger bus was hit by an oil car in Suceava County.[27] Traffic in the area was blocked for three hours.
September 19: Two people were killed and four others were gravely wounded by a rabid bear in Southern Carpathians.[28] The local authorities decreed state of alert in the area until its shooting or, eventually, until bears vaccination against rabies.
October 4: Redfoo and Party Rock Crew concert at the Roman Arenas, Bucharest. Concert organized by Unilife is part of the promotional tour of the album "Sorry for Party Rocking".
Media related to 2012 in Romania at Wikimedia Commons