Romanian foreign affairs minister Oana Țoiu announced on Thursday, April 30, that the government intends to declassify more than 5,000 diplomatic files from the first years of transition from the ministry archives. 

In total, 5,376 files, kept in 768 archival folders, occupying approximately 100 linear meters of shelving, will be declassified.

“It is the most substantial batch of diplomatic documents declassified since those from before 1989, and it covers a period of inflection in our recent history,” Țoiu said in a post on Facebook.

The files regard the now-contested elections of May 1990, the subsequent miners’ riots, the visit of King Michael, and diplomatic correspondence with the USSR. The minister stressed that the move will enhance transparency. 

“What did our difficult transition from communism to dialogue with the world powers look like? We are shedding light on our own history. Romanians have the right to truly know the history of Romania’s transition. Too many things have remained unspoken for too long, unclear, and in the closed air of lack of information, conspiracy theories and mistrust grow,” Țoiu said on Facebook.

According to the minister, the documents in question have not had state secret classification for over a decade. “However, they were kept away from the public as service secrets,” she said.

“A mature democracy is not afraid of its own history. It publishes it for citizen consultation and studies it. The Government Decision Project is, as of today, in decisional transparency on the MAE website,” Oana Țoiu concluded.

The project to declassify the documents has been in the works for months, according to the same source. Țoiu also emphasized that the public already has access to diplomatic documents from before 1989 and encouraged citizens to visit the Facebook page of the Diplomatic Archives, where more documents are published in this regard.

radu@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Facebook)