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Tag: miners raids

  • 30 years since the events in University Square

    30 years since the events in University Square

    These days
    public gatherings are forbidden due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Romanians
    still remember the University Square phenomenon. It happened 30 years ago in
    Bucharest, months after the anti-communist revolution of 1989. The phenomenon
    would forever mark Romanian society, becoming a milestone in anti-communist
    resistance. Misunderstood at the time by a society that had been for decades
    struggling with totalitarianism, the phenomenon produced a major social rift,
    which, despite the change of perception over the years, is still present to
    date. On April 22, 1990, thousands of people disgruntled with the political
    developments in the country gathered in University Square in central Bucharest
    and declared it the first area free of neo-communism.

    The protest was
    targeting Ion Iliescu and other officials of the Romanian Communist Party who had
    taken power in their grip after the revolution. A few dozen people completely
    blocked the square, and the movement rapidly gained momentum after Ion Iliescu
    labeled participants as hooligans. Backed by right-wing parties, the movement
    started in the election campaign for the first free elections in Romania, and
    lasted 53 days. It was violently repressed by a raid of miners brought over
    from a coal-mining site in southern Romania. The action was called a raid and
    sparked harsh criticism from Western powers and part of civil society. Ion
    Iliescu and the new leftist party that won the election were accused of having called
    and instigated the miners to attack protesters, who continued to voice their
    discontent on a much lower scale. The accusations have been denied to this day.

    Emil Constantinescu, a former professor at University of Bucharest, located in
    University Square, today labels the University Square phenomenon as a school
    of democracy. Constantinescu, who became Romania’s President in 1996, claims
    the lawmakers at the time feared the power of truth and the people might gain
    hope and start believing in ideals. Emil Constantinescu says the events of
    April, 1990 contributed to our Euro-Atlantic path, Romania 30 years on being a
    member of both the EU and NATO, part of the family of consolidated democracies.
    We are facing other types of difficulties, challenges and uncertainty, a lot of
    social division and a new wave of hatred that has migrated from the street to
    social media, the former President also warns. Rediscovering these moments of light
    in the darkness could help us defeat not just those viruses that infect our
    bodies, but also those that stain our minds, thus helping us understand that
    only together will we overcome adversities, Emil Constantinescu concluded.


    (Translated
    by V. Palcu)











  • The Week in Review – May 6-10

    The Week in Review – May 6-10

    EU Summit in Sibiu



    The highlight of the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union this semester was the informal meeting of EU heads of state and government hosted by Sibiu. 36 official delegations, 400 high-ranking officials, some 900 journalists and 100 interpreters came to Sibiu for the two-day summit. The event expressed the unity and determination of EU leaders to continue European integration, President Klaus Iohannis, the host of the event, said. Participants adopted the so-called Declaration of Sibiu, a manifesto expressing the unity of Member States as the underlying principle for building the future of Europe.



    EU leaders pledged to protect the European way of life, democracy and the rule of law, observe fairness on the common labor market, in welfare and in the economy. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker in turn said the unity expressed on the sidelines of the summit is not just for show, but real and robust. Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, also said he wants the nominations for the new EU leadership to be announced before June, which is why he has called a meeting of EU leaders on May 28, just after the European Parliament election. He continued his speech in Romanian to congratulate the organizers:



    Donald Tusk: “When we met in January, at the beginning of your Presidency — when I spoke with such conviction, and so emotionally about Romania — I was speaking with confidence, because I know that you are truly remarkable. You have organized an exceptional summit and you can be proud of your work, just as Europe is proud of you. I have fallen in love with Sibiu, the whole of Europe has fallen in love with you”.



    Pundits argue the effects of the message of unity and optimism conveyed in Sibiu will become visible only in two weeks, when the results of the European Parliament election will either conform or disprove opinion polls, according to which euroscepticism and anti-European sentiment are gaining momentum in several member states.



    Cold shower in Brussels



    The European Commission has this week downgraded its economic growth forecast for Romania to 3.3%. In January, the Commission expected the economy to grow by 3.8% of the GDP, as against the 5.5% estimate based on which the state budget for 2019 was built. GDP growth eased considerably starting last year, EU experts show. Private consumption remains the main engine of growth, driven by the increase in public wages, of effects of which were however offset of a significant hike in prices. The Commission’s forecast also shows that the uncertainty and unpredictability of public policies may also have a negative effect on consumption and investment, hampering growth.



    The 1990 miners’ raid again in the spotlight



    The High Court of Cassation and Justice in Romania has decided to send the so-called miners’ raid case of 13th to 15th June 1990 back to the prosecutor general’s office. The raid put an end to a large demonstration against the leftist government that had come to power after the fall of the communist dictatorship. Preliminary chamber judges said the military prosecutors’ investigation was not valid and returned the file. The interim prosecutor general Bogdan Licu has appealed the court’s decision. Two years ago, the military prosecutor’s office indicted the former president Ion Iliescu, the former prime minister Petre Roman, the former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu and the then director of the Romanian Intelligence Service Virgil Magureanu.



    They were accused of masterminding and directly coordinating, including by bringing the miners from Jiu Valley to Bucharest, the attack against the demonstrators in the University Square who were peacefully expressing their political views, which were at odds with those of the majority in power at that time. 1,300 were wounded, more than 1,000 arrested abusively and at least six were killed in those most dramatic days in the country’s post-communist history. Five years ago, the European Court of Human Rights issued a ruling obliging Romania to continue investigations into the miners’ raid of the June 1990.



    Romanians in the world



    Foreign minister Teodor Melescanu has requested president Klaus Iohannis to call back Romania’s ambassador to Washington George Maior. A ministry press release reads that the proposal came after an analysis of Maior’s term and whose actions no longer allow him to promote in a credible way Romania’s interests in the United State, a strategic partner of Bucharest. In April, a specialist parliamentary committee accused Maior that before being sent to Washington, in the almost ten years in which he ran the Romanian Intelligence Service, he used the service for personal interests and gravely harmed the rights and fundamental liberties of the Romanian citizens and the country’s interests.



    The ambassador said he was shocked by the accusations made against him and called for the full declassification of the hearings in the parliamentary committee for the control of the activity of the Romanian Intelligence Service. Also expected back in Romania is the former Social Democrat mayor of Constanta, the biggest port on the Romanian Black Sea, Radu Mazare, who was arrested in Madagascar. In February, he was wanted internationally after being convicted to 9 years in prison in a case concerning fictitious land returns, one of the many corruption cases he was involved in the 15 years he was mayor of Constanta, a period in which he won four terms.


  • June 13, 2017 UPDATE

    June 13, 2017 UPDATE

    GRINDEANU CABINET — The fate of the Grindeanu Cabinet will be decided on Wednesday’s meeting of the Social Democratic Party’s Executive committee, which will assess each minister and discuss potential reshuffles. At the end of last week the party leader Liviu Dragnea, who is also the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, expressed his discontent regarding the activity of certain ministers. Dragnea said he rules out changing the entire structure of the cabinet. In turn, Prime Minister Sorin Grideanu said he is conducting his own analysis and said he was pleased with his Cabinet’s overall performance. In another development, the presidency announced it was monitoring political moves aimed at changing the Government’s structure.



    IOHANNIS — Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis will pay an official visit to Berlin over June 19-21. The president will meet his German counterpart, Frank Walter Steinmeir and Chancellor Angela Merkel. Talks will focus on boosting bilateral relations and hot topics on the international and European agenda. On June 20 the President will be guest of honor in a ceremony commemorating the victims of refuge and expulsion at the German History Museum, where he will also deliver a speech. According to the presidency, 2017 marks 50 years since the launch of Romanian-German relations, 25 years since the cooperation and partnership agreement was signed between the two countries and 10 years since Romania joined the EU. Over June 22-23, president Iohannis will attend the European Summer Council, with migration, defense policy and Brexit as the main topics on its agenda. On the sidelines of the Council meeting Klaus Iohannis will also meet with the new French president, Emmanuel Macron.



    PROSECUTION – Romanian prosecutors re-started the criminal prosecution of the former president of Romania Traian Basescu, for abuse of office in the so called ‘Flora’ case, after judges with the High Court of Cassation and Justice admitted the request filed by the Prosecutor’s Office. The case was re-opened after a businessman filed a complaint, accusing Traian Basescu of having illegally returned, back in 2003, when he was the mayor of Bucharest, a 40,000 square meter piece of land. The commercial complex ‘Flora’ was later built on that ground. The businessman claims that Basescu abused his office by endorsing the return of the property, and the damage is estimated at more than 100 million Euros.



    STATISTICS – According to the National Statistics Institute, the average income in Romania went up by 1% in April, reaching the equivalent of 520 Euro, which is a historic record. The most significant increases were reported in relation to financial transactions and auxiliary activities, while decreases were recorded in the oil and natural gas extraction industry and in the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. In another development, the number of pensioners dropped to under 5.2 million, and the average pension went up by 8.1%, reaching some 220 Euro. The pensioners/employees ratio is still 9 to10, which means that 10 employees support 9 pensioners.



    COMMEMORATION — The first president in post-communist Romania, Ion Iliescu, the then Prime Minister Petre Roman and Intelligence chief Virgil Magureanu were indicted and accused of crimes against humanity on Tuesday in the case investigating the miners’ raids of June 13-15, 1990, which put an end to a large-scale rally against the left wing power instated after the fall of the communist dictatorship in December 1989. Against the background of violent clashes in the capital, which the army had already managed to stifle, the then president of the country Ion Iliescu claimed the right wing had planned a coup and called on the population to defend the democratic institutions. As a result of the call, miners from Jiu Valley came to Bucharest and attacked the University, the headquarters of the main opposition parties and the offices of independent publications. Their raids ended in four deaths, hundreds of people wounded and more than one thousand people arrested abusively. Romania’s image abroad was also affected by the violent raid of June 1990.



    RUSSIA — The Kremlin on Tuesday said the unauthorized anticorruption protests organized by opposition leader Aleksei Navalny are a threat to public opinion. Navalny was sentenced to 30 days in prison. In turn, Russian officials said they will not respond to Washington’s plea to release the protesters from arrest. Large protests were staged in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the Russian riot police launching an assault on the crowd after protests started voicing anti-regime slogans. Some 2,000 people were arrested, including scores of students and young people. (Translated by V. Palcu)

  • The Miner Raids of June 1990

    The Miner Raids of June 1990

    In June 1990, Romanians took to the streets, unhappy with the fact that, the previous month, the National Salvation Front (the NSF) had won the first democratic elections after the fall of communism. Supported by miners from the Jiu Valley mining basin, security forces in Bucharest intervened brutally against protesters in University Square, as well as against the population. The events of June 13 to 15, the so-called ‘mineriada, known as the ‘miner raids abroad, had a major negative impact on democratic structures and the rule of law. Political scientist Gabriel Andreescu talked about the political background that allowed that crisis:



    “These events are not unpleasant, but tragic, in every sense of the word. In the sense of a cost in human lives, individual lives, as well as a collective cost. It definitely has to do with the moment when the NSF was attempting to gain legitimacy, and it decided that it was the moment to use any means at its disposal to gain the control it was used to. Let us not forget that the former secret police the Securitate had been almost completely recycled in the Foreign Intelligence Service, which appeared in 1990, and the Romanian Intelligence service, which emerged officially in March 1990, and which had in fact been functioning previously. There was a visible growing economic power of the former apparatchiks. We are talking about some human groups whose experience was that of full control. From then on, full control was no longer an option. This is why protesters stayed on the streets in spite of the popular vote and in spite of requests for protests to cease.



    On June 13, 1990 the tents set up by the protesters in University Square in Bucharest, were destroyed by security forces. The first arrests were made, and workers from the Bucharest Heavy Machinery Factory joined those who were trying to restore order, shouting slogans against the intellectual class. After violent clashes, public television broadcast a message from President Ion Iliescu, who had won the democratic elections a year before. The message said: ‘We are calling on all responsible forces of conscience to gather around the Government building and Television to put an end to the forced attempts of these extremist groups, in order to defend the democracy gained at such great cost.



    On the evening of 13 June, three trains brought to Bucharest miners from the Jiu Valley basin. Gabriel Andreescu told us about the events that followed:



    “The newspaper Romania Libera, as well as the Group for Social Dialogue and others challenged constantly the power, which had been, however, confirmed by the population. Therefore what happened subsequently destroyed democracy. The miners who came to Bucharest were to liquidate the main sources of opposition. We are talking about Romania Libera, which was attacked, its headquarters destroyed, and the Group for Social Dialogue. I was present there, in the latter case. The miners came to the gate to throw us out, and they were stopped only due to a whole strategy of negotiation.



    The following day, on June 14, the miners led by Miron Cozma were taken by employees of the Romanian Intelligence Service to all the major points of Bucharest. The building of the University was attacked, illustrious academics, among them Petru Cretia, were assaulted, alongside student leaders. The same thing happened to the headquarters of the National Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic National Peasant Party. Back with details is Gabriel Andreescu:



    “The headquarters in historic buildings were destroyed, therefore, normally, after these raids, the opposition was supposed to be reduced to marginal, absolutely inefficient forms. But that didnt happen. The reaction from the inhabitants of Bucharest, and all over the country, was extraordinary. What these events did was to mobilize people even more, bringing together different communities, like labor unions, parties in the opposition and independent intellectuals. These events prompted the creation of the Civic Alliance, the largest civic structure in the country. The Cluj Anti-Totalitarian Democratic Front was set up after that, which then became the Democratic Convention of Romania, which in 1996 ensured a change in power. It allowed the stabilization of the first truly democratic institutions in Romania.



    On 15 June, 1990, the miners who had devastated downtown Bucharest and had savagely beaten protesters, intellectuals and students gathered at the Romexpo exhibition complex, and Ion Iliescu personally thanked them for restoring order in the Capital. Political scientist Gabriel Andreescu tells us about the impact of this tragedy:



    “There were overwhelming influences in a variety of ways, by mobilizing the domestic opposition. The international impact, however, was terrible, and we still bear the consequences of those terrible, horrible images that people in the West could see live. The way in which, with the blessing of public authorities, gangs of miners assaulted young people, destroyed abodes of learning. It is a huge shame, a stain on history that Romania will be hard put to be rid of.



    25 years after the events that shook Bucharest to its core, there is still no definitive review and bottom line drawn on the real toll taken by this phenomenon that brought a new word to the Romanian language, ‘mineriada, a sarcastic and bitter marriage of the words ‘miner, miner, and ‘olimpiada, Olympics.