The subject of December 1989 is a controversial one and perhaps among the bloodiest events in the history of modern Romania. The file from 2022 relates specific details that many witnesses of the time suspected.

According to the indictment in the Revolution file, released on August 17 by the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Romanian military was engaged in a life-or-death conflict with a made-up adversary, the terrorists, under the command of the group organized around Ion Iliescu, Romania’s former president. Prosecutors claim that one regiment fired about 500,000 rounds in a single night during the combat in the Otopeni region in December 1989 between various military detachments that were told they were battling “terrorists.”

The information is deduced from the Historical Register of the 321st Mechanized Regiment Ramnicu Sarat, where it is noted that “the orderly fire regime was not respected, a lot of ammunition was consumed, without a minimum effect, in that no terrorist was destroyed or captured,” and that “the spent ammunition is inventoried.“

The Romanian Revolution file reports the following aspects:

• Being under the terrorist psychosis, intentionally induced by the decision-making factors of the CFSN and the Superior Military Council, the Romanian military, used intentionally improperly, was involved in a life and death struggle with an enemy invented by the same factors;
• In reality, the evidence proves that the Romanian soldiers fought among themselves. All the military operations around Otopeni International Airport represented a tragic situation of fratricidal fire. It stands out that on a single night, a single regiment executed almost half a million shots. In the same perimeter, there were simultaneously numerous other forces of the MApN (Ministry of National Defence) who, of course, also fought fierce battles “with the terrorists.”

The prosecutors are saying that the chaos was also accentuated by the fact that civilians were also involved in the exchange of fire, some of them without any military training.

• The administered probation office also revealed that in the Otopeni-Baneasa area, between December 22-30, many armed, untrained civilians, some even teenagers, acted chaotically.
• Neither during the mentioned interval nor afterwards were the so-called terrorists identified or any evidence of their existence, as in all other areas where fighting took place.

• The research carried out in the case demonstrated that, between December 22, 16:00 and December 30, 1989, there were 857 deaths and 2,382 physical injuries due to the violent confrontations in Bucharest and the main cities of Romania.
• The terrorist psychosis has generated numerous situations of a fratricidal fire, massive consumption of military ammunition, chaotic shootings and, in general, a state of danger to society.
• Between 22 and 30 December 1989, MApN forces fired approximately 12,600,000 rounds, plus hundreds of bands fired by armoured personnel carriers (tanks), numerous grenade launcher and hand grenade (offensive and defensive) strike.

The prosecutors believe that this excessive ammunition consumption “denotes the strong and generalized effects of the terrorist psychosis that existed after December 22, as a result of the exercise of misleading,“ the population being tricked into believing that a terrorist attack is occurring on Romanian ground, leading to actual war.

On August 3, Prosecutor General Gabriela Scutea announced that the Revolution file, which accuses the former president Ion Iliescu, the former deputy prime minister Gelu Voican Voiculescu, and the former head of the Military Aviation, Iosif Rus, of crimes against humanity, had been resubmitted to the Supreme Court.

The so-called “Iliescu group,” which seized political control in Romania in December 1989, was composed of citizens and soldiers the previous government had disgraced. Its goal was to overthrow the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu while maintaining Romania’s subordination to the former Soviet Union. The individuals who seized power and held significant posts in the Romanian state for many years were part of the group led by former president Ion Iliescu, whose presence he “denied or downplayed.”

Of course, all these details circulated among the population in all these 33 years, but many pieces were covered up. Based on the information from the revolution file, it can be said that the Romanian revolution was a coup d’état masked by mass panic and manipulation. Unfortunately, the events of 1989 remain in a shadow of mystery and pain for the Romanian people, who were victims of the times, manipulated and shaped as they are today.

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Nicolae Ceausescu was the former communist leader of Romania until 1989. His execution during the so-called Romanian Revolution has ended the communist regime in the country, but the communist mentality remained for many years after.

One of his dreams during his term as president was to build a commercial jet airplane in Romania. He fulfilled that dream and Rombac 1-11 was the crowning jewelry of the Romanian aviation industry of the time. Yes, it was not a Romanian creation 100%, as it was built under a license from the British Aircraft Corporation, but still, Ceausescu could take pride in flying the Romanian-built Rombac Super 1-11.

The deal was closed after the presidential visit of Nicolae Ceausescu to the UK, where he met Queen Elisabeth II. The event took place back in 1978.

The plane to be auctioned was used by the Romanian president while in office during 1986 – 1989. Moreover, the plane was the last one to be used by Ceausescu, as a few days after his last international official visit to Iran, he was sentenced to death and executed. His removal from power is now called the Romanian Revolution.

Fancy a cheap jet? Rombac Super 1-11 is the one for you! With a starting price of only EUR25,000 or USD30,000, the airplane of one of the famous communist presidents in the Eastern bloc, Ceausescu’s airplane will certainly be considered a bargain for the collectors. With a top speed of 870 km/h, a 3,500 km autonomy, and a capacity of 119 passengers, Rombac 1-11 is a robust airplane, despite the age and the technology.

Are you in Bucharest or planning a trip here? Don’t forget to pay a visit to Ceausescu’s mansion, situated in the heart of the city! You will be impressed with the place.

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Ceausescu’s regime is blamed for lots of things by the Romanians, but some of them mention that the subway lines in Bucharest were inaugurated during that period. Not only that, but when the Romanian authorities announced in 2008 that they intend to complete the M5 subway line by 2015, lots of jokes were made on the subject. “Drumul Taberei Subway Station” is still one of the preferred subjects to joke about when it comes to public transport in Bucharest.

Yet, 30 years after the Revolution and 5 years later than initially planned, the capitalist Romania succeeded in opening a new subway line: the M5.

Wait – the date of the inauguration is not yet certain and the minister of Transport couldn’t reveal the great day. Instead, the official communication mentions that the event will take place “by the next week“.

We can then say in our turn that by the next week Romania will finally inaugurate a new subway line, 30 years after. Such a performance, isn’t it?

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Are there any resemblances between the two regimes and situations? Let’s analyze along with Politico the irony and the strange coincidence of it all..

The events which led to the Romanian Revolution from 1989 found Ceausescu in an official visit to…Iran. This is the first coincidence. At that time, in Romania there were speculations about the true nature of his visit, starting from “Ceausescu wanted to hide his gold in Iran” to “Ceausescu asked Iranian mercenaries to help him keep the power”.

The truth about his visit in Iran is more simple than some might believe: he was officially invited during this year and, while no other president wanted to welcome Ceausescu, while no president was hurrying to visit the Iran president, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Ceausescu simply accepted the invitation and was welcomed as an honored guest in Tehran. A few days later he was ousted from power and executed in Romania, following his return to the country.

The supreme clerical leader of Iran during Ceausescu’s official visit in 1989 was…Ali Khamenei, the same supreme leader as nowadays. After the embarrassment Iran diplomacy suffered for receiving Ceausescu, Khamenei was the one who cleared up the mess and calmed down the hot spirits, making a call for unity over the national debacle over Ceausescu’s visit.

Politico says the resemblance of the situation from the Communist Romania and cleric Iran is striking. Then, Ceausescu had Securitate, the most feared East-European state security force. Now, Khamenei has the Revolutionary Guards. Securitate had control over the economy, exports, imports and strong currencies, Revolutionary Guards have power over border traffic, including merchandise and goods, but also fuel and drugs. Ceausescu was hated by its people, who demonstrated against him, now the Iranian people took to the streets to ask for “death for the tyrant”.

Will Khamenei have the same end as Ceausescu? Politico says it’s not the only option to end the crisis:The Romania scenario for Iran is not inevitable, but it would be prudent to prepare for it.

What will happen? Only future will tell.

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Indeed, 30 years have passed since thousands of Romanians fought for their freedom, their blood staining the streets in central Bucharest and in the major Romanian cities. Young and old, men and women, altogether fighting against the communist regime and dying for freedom.

Yet, 30 years later, Romanians still have open wounds as they haven’t found out the truth about the “revolution from 1989”. First of all, there is high controversy about naming those events a revolution, as many still believe it was a coup organized by second line communists or communists who politically opposed the regime. Moreover, the power after “revolution” was grasped by the former communists, such as Ion Iliescu.

Second of all, Romanian justice still haven’t been able to answer a simple question: “Who is to be blamed for the thousands of deaths all over the country, but mainly in Bucharest?” Who shot the young Romanians who peacefully demonstrated for freedom? Who gave the orders to shoot with live ammunition? Who are responsible for the massacre?

BBC reportage covers all the wounds and questions Romanians still have no answer for. Their conclusion is that Romanians will have these open wounds until justice will be done and answers will be clearly offered.

Photo source: BBC

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Romanian Palace of Parliament’s value is USD 1,2 B, as set by the Romanian Parliament, which is a huge value especially when you think of the times back in 1990 when the Romanian people wanted to destroy the building. They saw it as a symbol of communism.

Now, 30 years later, The Guardian dedicated an article to this Bucharest landmark, article which concludes that Romanians came to terms with the building 30 years after the fall of communism. The journalists’ opinion is supported by the construction of the National Cathedral right next tot the Palace. In their view, this is something which translates as “we can’t tear it down, let’s build something bigger”.

In our opinion, the building of the cathedral in the close proximity of the Palace of Parliament has nothing to do with erasing somehow the memory of communism, nor with avenging the destruction of those 3 churches in order to build the Ceausescu’s People’s House. Both buildings have different meanings and their construction was decided in different moments of the Romanian history, not related anyhow with the other.

Photo source: VisitBucharest.Today

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It is the first time when the European Parliament officially focuses on the bloodiest event of all the Eastern European revolts which led to the freedom of the entire Eastern bloc in 1989. Romanians, as opposed to all the other former communist nations, had to pay with their blood for freedom.

The concern of the European Parliament and also of all the Romanian people is that, 30 years later, truth is yet to be revealed and the assassins which shot the young and old, men and women alike in that tragic December have never been identified and brought to justice.

The European Parliament’s Resolution urges the Romanian authorities to find out and offer the truth for the Romanian citizens about what really happened during those days. Also, it urges all the European states to ensure the crimes of the communist regimes are remembered.

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Words like “Liberty” and “Down with the regime” or “Down with Ceausescu” were heard for the first time in public during the 42 year-long communist regime. The country was at that time ruled by Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena Ceausescu. He was the president of the Communist Party and the president of Romania, and Elena was the Deputy Prime-Minister.

Their decision for the military to use live ammunition against the protesters led to hundreds of deaths, both in Timisoara and in the other major cities where the protests spread. Bucharest was the place where most of the deaths occurred, following the clashes between the protesters and the army.

Later on, the army joined the protesters and Ceausescu was finally caught, sentenced to death and executed on the 25th of December, during Christmas, after a quick trial conducted by a so-called “tribunal”. His execution was in fact part of a plan drafted long before the “revolution” by internal silence opposition to the leaders and external forces, mainly Russian and Hungarian, as later was proved.

The “Romanian Revolution” file is not yet solved and Romanian people haven’t found out the truth about what happened at that time. This is why the European Parliament is to adopt this week a resolution on the Romanian Revolution where the MPs urge for telling the Romanian people the truth about those events.

During the events, manipulations like “the terrorists killed the protesters” were exposed when no terrorist was found during the “revolution”. The army avoided to take responsibility for the deaths and blamed former Militia and Securitate for the incidents.

Also, there were armed incidents when military fought against militia and anti-terrorism forces, which resulted in additional deaths. All these are not yet solved in court.

Was the Romanian Revolution a revolution after all?

Some contest even the term “revolution” in association with the events which took place during December 1989 in Romania. By all definitions, revolutions have some similarities:

• are conducted by the people
• led to the replacing of a regime with another

The contesters argue the events were not controlled or conducted by the Romanian people, as the so called revolution was in fact conducted by external and internal forces.

Also, the regime was not at all replaced, as in the National Salvation Front, the political party which replaced the Communist Party and ruled Romania from 1990, were former members of the Communist Party. Ion Iliescu, who was presented during the events as the savior of the nation, was in fact a communist and one of the former close aids of Nicolae Ceausescu.

The conclusion of those who contest the term “revolution” is that in 1989 external and internal forces, not the people, decided to overthrow the existing leaders and replace them with others. The original plan, designed long before 1989, was to keep the communism, but the events from the other communist countries, such as Eastern Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, showed there was no room for doing this in Romania while all the other communist countries turned to democracy. Despite this change, Romania was led by former communists long after the “revolution”, smart enough to disguise themselves behind political parties.

Those who defend the term “revolution” argue that there were thousands of deaths from the Romanian people and also that there was a massive popular uprising against the communist regime.

Either way, history will prove what happened in 1989 in Romania – was it a revolution or a coup d’etat?

Has anything changed in Romania during these 30 years?

30 years after the “revolution” an external viewer witness a bitter transformation: internal political rivalries divide the country and the European and American involvement in the Romanian internal affairs, judicial and economic, are not seen with good eyes by all Romanian citizens.

In spite of all these, Romania has changed a lot during the years following the events from 1989. Not only was the communism replaced by democracy and socialism by capitalism, but later, in 2004, Romania joined NATO and in 2007 also joined European Union.

With an economy which is increasing and constitutes the 7th economy in the EU, with 19 mil. inhabitants in the country and more than 5 million outside its borders, Romania might be one of the developed countries in the future, following Poland’s example.

With an IT sector whose exports worth almost EUR 5 billion a year, with an agricultural sector whose exports rival the French ones and with an educated work force, Romania could have a developed economy.

Yet, Romanians have a lot more to learn about democracy itself and about democratic values. Also, Romanians have a lot more to learn about what morality, civilization and common sense mean, even if more steps were taken towards this direction.

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The exhibition tells the story of the Romanian Revolution, using photos taken 30 years ago in Timisoara and Bucharest.

Prince Charles is a friend of the Romanian people. His social and entrepreneurial initiatives in Romania are well-known: he invested in rural tourism in Viscri, a village in Transylvania, but he also become one of the most vocal and well-known defenders of the Romanian wildlife and picturesque landscapes.

Photo source: Facebook Romanian Cultural Institute in London

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