In messages posted over the weekend, both president Nicușor Dan and prime minister Ilie Bolojan marked 36 years since the December 1989 Romanian Revolution, which put an end to the communist regime in the country.

The president used the opportunity to comment on the Romanian justice system, saying that resolving the major cases of the recent past is paramount to the consolidation of Romanian democracy.

“FREEDOM! This was the clear cry of the Romanian nation in December 1989. The cry of those who had lived for too long in isolation, fear, and poverty, and who decided that they must reclaim their dignity. They did not know whether they would prevail, but they knew they could no longer live on their knees. Their courage opened the path to our freedom,” the president posted on social media.

Dan criticized the communist regime for its “terror, lies, and dehumanization,” but also for the cruelty that led to over a thousand deaths during the Revolution. 

“The four and a half decades of communism meant hunger, economic, social, and intellectual isolation, the systematic destruction of freedoms, abuses, and crimes directed even against the most vulnerable. It was a regime that profoundly despised life, human dignity, and fundamental rights,” the president emphasized.

He also condemned communism for suppressing intellectual elites and opponents, but also religious freedom and freedom to assemble. 

“We pay tribute to the memory of the martyrs of the Revolution and to all those who suffered under communism. We are grateful to them not only through words, but through the commitment to build a Romania in which respect for rights, fundamental freedoms, and human dignity are realities, not merely declarative principles. The freedom won then is our responsibility, all of us, today," Nicușor Dan concluded.

Dan commended the revolutionaries and those who resisted communism before 1989, and argued that “without final decisions, without accountability, and without the moral justice owed to the victims and their descendants, society remains vulnerable to manipulation, to the relativization of evil, and to the distortion of memory.” 

In turn, Romanian prime minister Ilie Bolojan said that much is still to be done after 36 years of freedom. 

“We commemorate those who were victims of communism and those who dared to rise against a dictatorship that destroyed lives and systematically violated people’s rights. On December 21, 1989, the revolt that began in Timișoara reached Bucharest and ultimately led to the fall of the communist regime. Thanks to their sacrifice, Romania is today a free country in which citizens can vote, express themselves freely, and decide their future,” Bolojan stated in the message delivered on Sunday, December 21. 

He emphasizes that after the 1989 Revolution, Romania returned to the path of democracy, despite its problems. Today’s challenges include a complex security context and serious internal problems, such as budgetary imbalances and structural weaknesses, the head of the executive argued. 

“The solutions lie in responsibility, honesty, and firm decisions. If we succeed in strengthening people’s trust in the state, putting public finances in order, and supporting economic development in a balanced manner, then we will be able to say that the sacrifice of those who died for freedom was not in vain,” Ilie Bolojan said.

The Romanian Revolution started on December 16, 1989, in Timisoara. Dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu ordered the protests to be repressed by force, but this led to an escalation of the protests, which spread to other cities. On December 22, Ceaușescu and his wife Elena fled Bucharest in a helicopter. The presidential couple was later arrested, tried by an extraordinary military tribunal, and executed on December 25 (Christmas Day) of 1989.

More than 1,100 people were killed, and 3,300 were injured during the December 16-25, 1989 events. 

In 2011, the Romanian Parliament established December 21 as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Communism.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Nicușor Dan on Facebook)