Radio România Internațional

Tag: anti-communist revolution

  • December 14, 2024

    December 14, 2024

     

    NEGOTIATIONS In Bucharest, negotiations on a future coalition of the pro-European parties in Parliament have made progress with respect to the structure of the new government. The Social Democratic Party will control 7 ministries, the National Liberal Party 4, Save Romania Union 3, and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania 2, said the Social Democrats’ senior vice-president Sorin Grindeanu. It has not yet been decided which ministries will go to each party and the names of the new ministers. On the other hand, the Social Democrats and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians plead for a single presidential candidate of the coalition. After the Constitutional Court cancelled the election for president, the future executive will have to decide by the end of the year on a new presidential election calendar, the UDMR believes. The pro-European parties elected in Parliament hope to come up with a cabinet by Christmas.

     

    EU FUNDING Romania has collected EUR 1.9 billion in EU structural and cohesion funds in 2021-2027, and the overall absorption rate, 6.11%, is close to the EU average of 6.19%, the minister of investments and European projects, Adrian Câciu announced. The absorption rate for the structural and cohesion funds under centrally managed programmes is higher, namely 7.3%, Caciu said in a Facebook post. He emphasised that Romania is yet to catch up on Regional Programmes, where the absorption rate is 3.2%, but he voiced confidence that the example set by the current coalition comprising the Social Democrats and the Liberals in terms of management and implementation of European funds, including decentralisation, will be followed by the new government, and the pace of EU fund absorption will be sustained, so as to replicate the success of the 2014-2020 period.

     

    ECONOMY Romania’s trade deficit was EUR 5.5 billion higher in the first 10 months of the year than in the same period in 2023, according to data made public by the National Bank. More than half of this deficit is the result of growing imports of goods. The central bank also says that the total foreign debt went up over EUR 18 billion and exceeded EUR 186 billion. According to analysts, along with the very high budget deficit, these are the main problems of the Romanian economy, and they must be solved concurrently, which is very difficult. They believe that through a correct budget adjustment, expenses would be cut, and revenues could be raised by eliminating corruption and through a fair tax system.

     

    ANNIVERSARY Timişoara marks 35 years since the anti-communist Revolution of December 1989, which broke out in this city in western Romania. Under the motto “35 years of freedom”, events dedicated to the 1989 heroes and celebrating the three and a half decades since Timişoara became the first city free from communism in Romania will take place between December 15 and 20. The agenda includes, as every year, religious services, wreath-laying, exhibitions and film screenings. A concert entitled Requiem in Memoriam is scheduled on Sunday at the Banat Philharmonic, Monday will see the inauguration of the Freedom Portal, a light installation that reproduces sounds from the Revolution, followed by the traditional march “Heroes Never Die”. Tuesday will be a day of mourning, and the events on December 20 will end with a concert called “Rock for revolution”.

     

    IMPEACHMENT South Korea’s prime minister Han Duck-soo Saturday vowed to ensure a stable government after the National Assembly voted to impeach president Yoon Suk-yeol over his failed attempt to introduce martial law on December 3, AFP reports. Tens of thousands of protesters cheered outside the National Assembly building as the vote was announced. Citing difficulties in passing his budget, Yoon Suk-yeol stunned the country by imposing martial law overnight, but was forced to lift it 6 hours later under pressure from parliament and the street. Under investigation for mutiny, Yoon, 63, is banned from leaving the country, as are his former defence and interior ministers and the commander of the short-lived martial law. (AMP)

  • December 18, 2019 UPDATE

    December 18, 2019 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT
    – The Government in Bucharest on Wednesday adopted the draft state budget and
    the social security budget for next year. Romanian PM Ludovic Orban has
    officially announced that the Bucharest Government will seek Parliament’s vote
    of confidence over the two bills. Next year’s draft national budget and social
    security budget have been published on the finance ministry’s website for debate.
    The national budget is built on a 4.1% economic growth rate, a budget deficit
    of 3.59% and an average inflation rate of 3.1%. Nine ministries will receive
    more money, among which labor, defense, home affairs while smaller amounts will
    be allocated to regional development. President Klaus Iohannis, who chaired the
    Higher Defense Council meeting on Tuesday, where the budgets of the military
    institutions were decided on, said he is satisfied with the draft law.




    COMMEMORATION
    – Events marking 30 years since the anti-communist revolution continued on
    Wednesday in the city of Timisoara, in western Romania. On December 18, 1989,
    protesters were shot on the stairs of the Orthodox Cathedral, while 43 corpses
    were stolen from the morgue of the county hospital and taken by the Securitate,
    the former political police, to the crematory in Bucharest, in an attempt to
    hide the truth. Tuesday was a day of mourning in Timisoara, in memory of the
    victims.




    MINORITIES
    – By promoting policies based on respect, mutual observance of rights and
    values, dialogue and democratic representation at political and institutional
    level, Romania has become one of the most appreciated models of minority rights
    protection, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban said on Wednesday, on the occasion of
    the National Minorities Day. The Romanian society has evolved in the last 30
    years from multiculturalism to interculturalism, by proving that diversity does
    not mean division, but a plus for all, Orban has also said. As many as 18
    ethnic minorities live in Romania at present. In Romania’s Parliament, 17
    minorities have one MP while the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in
    Romania holds 21 deputy seats and 1 senator seat.




    VISIT – Defense Minister
    Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca, Interior Minister Marcel Vela and the Chief of General
    Staff, General Daniel Petrescu paid a working visit to Afghanistan. According
    to a Defense Ministry release, Nicolae Ciuca visited the military bases in
    Kandahar, in the south, and in Kabul, where he met with the military deployed
    to these areas. Nicolae Ciuca met with General Giles Hill, deputy commander of
    NATO Resolute Support. The two officials looked the security context in
    Afghanistan, Romania’s contribution to the Resolute Support Mission, the
    sixth-largest contributor to this theatre of operations, US support to Romanian
    military as well as the prospects of the 2020 Multinational Command. In turn,
    Interior Minister Marcel Vela met in Kabul with the 24 Romanian gendarmes who
    are taking part in the Resolute Support mission. The Romanian gendarmes are
    trusted by their partners and are completing their missions with
    professionalism. Right now, the Romanian Army has deployed over 1,200 military
    in external missions, of whom 775 in Afghanistan. Since 2002, 30 Romanian
    military were KIA in theatres of operations in Afghanistan, Irak and Kosovo, 27
    in Afghanistan alone.




    FIGHTER JETS – President Klaus Iohannis on Wednesday ratified the law on the
    procurement of an additional five F-16 fighter jets from Portugal. The law was
    passed as a top priority in Parliament, as the offer to the Government expired
    at the end of the year, Defense Minister Nicolae Ciuca has said. Romania right
    now has 12 F-16 fighter jets, all bought from Portugal.


    FOOTBALL
    – At the Romanian Football Awards, Razvan Lucescu has been designated coach of
    the year for having won the championship and cup of Greece with PAOK
    Thessaloniki and the Asian Champions League with the Saudi side Al-Hilal. From
    the beginning of his career Lucescu proved to be one of the best Romanian coaches.
    Aged 37, Lucescu in 2006 coached Rapid Bucharest to the quarterfinals of the
    UEFA Cup after beating teams like Feyenoord Rotterdam, Shaktar Donetsk, Hertha
    Berlin and SV Hamburg. Rapid failed to qualify to the semifinals after two
    draws against Steaua Bucharest. Between 2009 and 2011 Lucescu coached Romania’s
    national team


    (Translated by Elena Enache & V. Palcu)

  • The Romanian Revolution, 29 years on

    The Romanian Revolution, 29 years on

    Every year in
    late December Romanians commemorate the victims of the December 1989
    anti-Communist revolution. Some still recollect those events with grief and
    sorrow although 29 years have passed ever since.






    The Romanian
    President Klaus Iohannis laid a wreath of flowers at the Memorial Cross in the University
    Square in Bucharest to honor the memory of the victims, and senators and
    deputies observed a moment of silence.




    On Thursday the
    city of Timisoara, in the west, marked Victory Day. On December 20th,
    1989, after several days of repression by the Communist authorities, the people
    of Timisoara took to the streets in great numbers. The army withdrew to the
    barracks and from the balcony of the Opera House in Timisoara the people
    declared Timisoara the first city of Romania free of Communism.






    To mark this
    moment, siren calls were heard in downtown Timisoara where the anti-Communist
    revolution sparked 29 years ago. It all started from a spontaneous protest
    against the authorities’ attempt to evacuate reformist pastor Laszlo Tokes, as
    he had been critical of the Communist regime in the international press, which was
    interpreted, in the spirit of the epoch, as incitement to ethnic division.






    On December 17th,
    the protest extended to the center of the city, which became the main stage for
    shouting anti-Communist slogans, which was literally inconceivable at the time.
    Faced with such an unprecedented situation, the authorities ordered the army to
    go to the streets that were already teeming with informers of the Securitate
    political police.






    A brutal
    intervention followed and scores of people were shot. To wipe off the traces of
    the violent repression, the corpses were taken from the hospital morgue and
    transferred to Bucharest to be cremated, the ashes being thrown into the sewer
    system as part of the operation symbolically called the Rose.






    On December 21st,
    the anti-Communist revolution extended to Bucharest and culminated on December
    22nd with dictators Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu fleeing Bucharest. Subsequently,
    they were caught and shot dead on the very Christmas Day after a brief trial.
    In December 1989 more than one thousand people died and at least three thousand
    were wounded. 29 years on, the prosecutors’ investigation into those events has
    not been finalized and the culprits are still at large.






    Initially
    classified, the revolution file was reopened in 2017 after the judges decided
    that the previous investigations had been very superficial. Military
    prosecutors announced the extension of criminal procedures, in rem, in relation
    to crimes against humanity. Judges have shown that in order to keep the power,
    the new political and military power instated after 1989 caused the killing and
    arrest of a great number of people. The president of the Association ‘December
    21, 1989’ Doru Maries says that the only thing that can be done for the
    revolution heroes is JUSTICE.





  • December 18, 2018 UPDATE

    December 18, 2018 UPDATE

    DEFENCE Romania’s Defence Minister
    Gabriel Les met NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the headquarters of
    the North Atlantic Alliance in Brussels on Tuesday. The talks between the two
    officials focused on security in the Black Sea region, on consolidating the
    deterrence and defence position on NATO’s eastern flank, the preparations for
    Romania’s taking over the EU rotating presidency on January 1st next
    year and Bucharest’s priorities for this mandate. According to a communiqué
    issued by the Defence Ministry, the meeting between the two officials proved to
    be another opportunity for Romania to reiterate its firm commitment to the
    defence and security strategy promoted by NATO.












    AWARD Academician Eugen Simion, head of
    the Department of Literature and Philology with the Romanian Academy, is winner
    of the 2018 Alfred Nobel Gold Medal awarded by the International Society of
    Philology. The award ceremony is to take place early next year at the European
    Parliament headquarters in Strasbourg and will be followed, according to
    regulations, by a ceremony in the recipient’s country of origin. The
    International Society of Philology has been awarding the aforementioned gold
    medal for almost a century now. The event, held every five years, was designed
    as an equivalent of the Nobel Prize in Literature in recognition of
    accomplishments in the field of grammar, literary criticism and history.














    CSAT
    Romania’s Higher Defence Council (CSAT) is to convene again on Wednesday after
    its previous session was suspended by president Klaus Iohannis on December 11th
    upon a request from the Council’s members. According to the Presidential
    Administration, the agenda included topical issues concerning the country’s
    defence and national security, which sparked off prolonged debates. Talks also
    focused on the plan of providing equipment for Romania’s armed forces between
    2019 and 2028, the CSAT schedule for the next year, the future plan for Romania’s
    armed forces carrying out various missions in theatres of operations abroad as
    well as the National Plan for Information Priorities for 2019.














    FORUM The relationship between Europe and Africa is developing and
    we want to turn it from a relation in which Europe has offered assistance, into
    a relation between equal partners, ready to cooperate and develop together,
    Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis has said in Vienna, at the meeting of heads
    of state and government, held on the sidelines of the Europe-Africa Forum. He
    has also said that Romanian will further promote consistent action to support
    the alliance between the two continents, among which granting scholarships to
    young Africans. The Europe-Africa Forum is intent on consolidating the
    long-term partnership between the EU and Africa and lays emphasis on boosting
    sustainable investments, creating jobs and taking cooperation to the digital
    era.










    COMMEMORATIONS The series of events
    commemorating the martyr heroes of the 1989 Anti-Communist Revolution in
    Romania, continued in Timisoara, in the west. December 18th goes
    down in history as the day when the young people protesting against the
    communist regime of Nicolae Ceausescu were shot dead on the steps of the
    Metropolitan Cathedral in Timisoara. Vigil candles were lit on Tuesday on the
    steps of the Cathedral in remembrance of that day. A day of mourning was
    decreed in Timisoara on Monday in memory of those who, 29 years ago, lost their
    lives, being killed by the repressive forces of the communist regime. Masses
    and memorial services have been performed and floral tributes have been
    paid.





  • December 16, 2017

    December 16, 2017

    THE KING – The last king of Romania, Mihai I, will tonight be interred at the royal necropolis in Curtea de Arges, southern Romania, the resting place of his wife, Queen Ana and the other three kings of Romania. The king died on December 5 in Switzerland aged 96. Three days of national mourning have been declared in Romania, December 14 through 16. Tens of thousands of people this week have paid a last homage to the King at the Royal Palace. The funeral started on Saturday with a religious service in the Throne Room at the Royal Palace, followed by a second one in the Royal Palace Square. The coffin was laid on a gun carriage pulled by a military vehicle and transported to the Orthodox Cathedral, where the last religious service in Bucharest will be held. Attending the funerals are representatives of European monarchies and scores of high-ranking officials.



    COMMEMORATION – Commemorative events are underway in Timisoara to mark 28 years since the 1989 anti-communsit revolution. The National Opera host a fine arts exhibition devoted to freedom, while two marches will re-enact the path the mass of revolutionaries took through the city, in memory of those who lost their lives. Religious ceremonies will be held and floral tributes will be paid to monuments devoted to the citys heroes. Events will continue until December 20, Victory Day, when Timisoara will play host to a rock concert. Started out as a grassroots movement against the local authorities abusive decisions, the revolution spread quickly across the country, and led to the demise of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu on December 22. Over 1,000 people were killed and nearly 3,400 were wounded over December 16-25. Romania was the only country from the Soviet bloc where the anti-communist revolution ended in violence with the dictatorial couple being executed.



    BUDGET – Parliaments joint budget and finance committees have adopted the state and social security budgets for next year. The state budget is based on an economic growth of 5.5%, an exchange rate of 4.55 lei against the euro and a monthly average income of some €570. The budget deficit is set at 2,97% of the GDP. On Monday, Parliaments two chambers will debate the two bills in a joint plenary session, and a final vote on this matter has been scheduled for December 21.



    MEETING – Romanias Minister for the Business Sector, Ilan Laufer and Romanias Ambassador to Washington, George Cristian Maior, on Friday met with US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The three officials discussed the remarkable evolution of the economic and trade partnership between Romania and the United States. According to a press release of the Romanian Embassy in Washington, the meeting occasioned a review of the highlights of this year, among which Romanian investment in the US, Romania hosting the Trade Winds mission forum, attended by over 100 US businesses, partnerships struck by the two countries defense sectors. The two delegations analyzed cooperation prospects over the coming period, with a focus on creating new business and investment opportunities, that would bring benefits to both countries economies.



    MOLDOVA – The Parliament of Moldova on Friday voted the EU Memorandum on the €100-million aid package, to be disbursed in three instalments over the course of 2018. To access the funds, Moldova has to fulfil a set of 28 prerequisites regarding progress in implementing its agreement with the IMF. The requirements forwarded by the Commission are part of the Governments agenda and part of them, required to disburse the first instalment, have already been met, Parliament Speaker Andrian Candu has said. One of the requirements provides for the adopting of a new law on the activity of the Court of Accounts and setting up an agency for processing notifications in the field of public procurement. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • December 20, 2016

    December 20, 2016

    PARLIAMENT – Senators and Deputies elected at the parliamentary ballot of December 11 are today meeting in separate sessions. Parliament is expected to validate their MP mandates, set up parliamentary groups and decide on the membership of Permanent Bureaus. President Klaus Iohannis has summoned parliamentary groups for consultations as follows: the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Save Romania Union and the Democratic Union of Ethnic Hungarians in Romania on Wednesday, while the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, the Peoples Movement Party and the Group of national minorities on Thursday. This week, the Social-Democratic Party and the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, currently holding 54% of the seats in Parliament, have signed a cooperation protocol and are expected to announce their nomination for the position of Prime Minister. Once appointed by the President, the Prime Minister has 10 days to set up his Cabinet and decide on his governing program, after which time he will receive Parliaments vote of confidence.



    ATTACK IN BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her outrage and grief in the wake of Monday nights attack in the German capital city, promising its perpetrators will be brought to justice. Angela Merkel added that the German people must be confident they can live freely in Germany. In turn, Interior Minister Thomas de Miziere has labeled the attack as an act of terrorism, saying that Christmas fairs will remain open and adequate security measures will be taken. 12 people were killed and another 48 wounded on Monday night after a lorry ploughed into the crowd of shoppers at a Christmas market in Berlin. The attack has some resemblance to the one committed in Nice this summer, when a truck driven by a Tunisian national ploughed in the crowd of people on Promenade des Anglais, killing 86 people. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State at the time. Romanian Foreign Minister Lazar Comanescu condemned the attack, adding that there were no Romanians among the victims. Defense Minister Mihnea Motoc conveyed a message of condolence to the victims families, saying that terrorism must be dealt with swiftly. Presidential Advisor Bogdan Aurescu also expressed condolences on behalf of the Presidential Administration.



    ASSASSINATION – Six people were detained after Russian Ambassador to Ankara Andrei Karlov was shot dead on Monday while holding a speech at a photo exhibition opening. The perpetrator was killed and identified as a former Turkish police officer. Aged 22, the killer said his gesture is an act of vengeance for Syria and the victims in Aleppo. The assassination has been condemned by the Turkish and Russian presidents, Recep Erdogan and Vladimir Putin respectively, who said the attack was an attempt at destabilizing relations between the two countries and blocking the peacemaking process in Syria. Russian experts will be involved in the investigation. In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on Ankara authorities not to make any concessions to terrorists regarding the Syrian crisis.



    FUNDING – The European Union, the European Bank for Investment and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will make available a financial aid package worth 92 million euros for the construction of a natural gas pipeline linking Romania to the Moldovan capital city Chisinau. The European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will each provide 41 million euros, while the remaining 10 million euros will be funded by the EU. The project will thus interconnect the natural gas supply systems of Romania and Moldova, linking Chisinau to the Iasi-Ungheni pipeline built in 2014 and aimed at helping Moldova diversify its energy resources. Over 90% of Moldovas gas consumption relies on imports.



    VICTORY DAY – Victory Day is today marked in Timisoara, western Romania. On December 20, 1989, four days after protests broke out against the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu, Timisoara became the first Romanian city free of communism. It was the day when the Romanian Democratic Front was set up, the first democratic political fraction in Romania that met popular demands. The anti-communist protest quickly spread to Bucharest and the whole country. Romania remains the only Eastern Bloc country where the communist regime was brought down through violence and the communist leaders were executed.



    CONFIRMATION – The Federal Electoral College in the US on Monday voted Donald Trump as president, six weeks after he won the presidential election. Seen as a mere formality, this year the vote has taken place amidst concerns regarding the Russian hackers alleged involvement in the US presidential election, the BBC reports. 40 members of the Electoral College had asked for an official intelligence report on the purported attempt to influence the vote. In early January, the US Congress will take the College vote under advisement and is expected to validate the result of the elections. Donald Trump is to be officially sworn in on January 20.


    (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • The victims of the 1989 anti-communist revolution in Timisoara

    The victims of the 1989 anti-communist revolution in Timisoara

    The anti-communist revolution of December 1989 remains one of the most tragic events in Romania’s recent history. The human sacrifice that led to the collapse of the communist dictatorship has left a deep scar on collective conscience in Romania. What started as a peaceful protest against the restrictions to religious freedom on the 16th of December 1989 became, on the following day, a spontaneous act of solidarity with and protest against the violation of basic human rights and liberties. On the 17th and 18th of December, army, police and secret service troops opened fire on the protesters. Alexandra Enache, the director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Timisoara, was one of the doctors who performed autopsy on the victims. The first action was to inspect the types of wounds inflicted:



    “The external examination of the body, including entry and exit wounds, establishes the direction from which the shots were fired. Most of shots were fired from the same height, but from all directions. We found entry wounds on both the front and back of the bodies. Not many bullets were fired upwards, but these were cases when the bullets ricocheted. A report on the trajectory of the bullets was submitted to the Military Prosecutor’s Office, which created an overview in terms of the direction from which the shots were fired. In most of the cases, the victims were standing, as the wounds were on the heads. Some of them were on the move when they got shot and all had gunshot wounds, none had blunt trauma. You cannot possibly defend yourself against a gun by throwing stones and the shooters were at quite some distance from the crowd. Had they wanted to defend themselves, they would have stood minimal chances. We didn’t have data about traumas among the troops that opened fire on the protesters, or cases of stabbing. I remember someone who was said to have died in a car crash, but was in fact killed in the clashes between the troops and the protesters. The wounded weren’t abandoned but carried by the protesters to the nearest emergency rooms. I remember examining four children with ages ranging from 2 to 16 years; they had been shot dead by the riot police and army. All the victims were Romanian nationals.”



    Alexandra Enache referred to the identification procedures and the then grim atmosphere in the institution.


    ”Of the first victims of December 17 that we examined on December 18, 6 corpses were left unidentified. There were very many unidentified victims in the first days. But, based on the examinations made and the notes we took, based on the description and an identikit picture of the corpse, the families managed to identify their victims in the month of December, and also in January 1990 and later on, by means of those notes referring to certain particular body signs or items of clothing. Many of those victims were taken to Bucharest and cremated. We kept all those notes in the form of forensic reports based on which identifications were made. The families read the reports and talked with the forensic medicine experts who had performed the examinations and managed to find elements based on which they could recognize their relatives. The identity papers and other items that the victims had on themselves were initially taken by the employees of the justice department, who also took pictures of the corpses. As far as I know these papers no longer exist, because they were burnt together with the photographic films and other documents which were drafted by the justice department of the militia. The forensic reports which we wrote were the only documents drafted at the time. On December 18th we worked until late to finalize the documents for all the bodies that were examined and which had stayed at the morgue that day. We called it a day only after all reports were drawn up. At the time I was a resident physician. We were under a lot of pressure at the moment, given the times. We were not allowed to leave the county hospital of Timisoara, where the morgue was, through the main gate. After we finished the examinations and having to return to the office, which was in another building, we had to take a secondary exit.”



    In January 1990, the documents issued between December 16-18 by the Forensic Medicine Institute of Timisoara were archived, including the post mortem examination reports of the bodies that had disappeared from the hospital morgue. The corpses had been taken secretly to Bucharest and cremated, in a last attempt of the repressive regime to hide the evidence of the massacre they perpetrated against unarmed civilians. 25 years on, questions about what actually happened in Timisoara in those days of December 1989, are still unanswered.