18th December 2024. Morning. 09:21 AM…
I hear someone standing behind me and whispering into my ear: “Freedom”, “Truth”, “Freedom”, “Truth”… I don’t know what to answer, if I should answer anything or let the silence do its work. I am not sure if I am worthy to comment regarding the most sacred right given by God at the beginning of times. One can say that freedom is the only valid truth in the world. Freedom, liberty, DEMOCRACY, human rights, rule of law… these are treasures which must be well-guarded in the next years because the upcoming year(s) will be decisive for these values, ideas and principles. The upcoming year(s) will decide whether the free world will remain free, if democracy will continue to survive or if it will become a whisper in the wind, if the West will still have an answer for what is to come or if the West will continue its sleep in front of the hurricane in front of us.
Within this article, I would like to address a question, after 35 years passed from the Romanian Revolution: is Romania heading towards the right direction in terms of democratic ideals, principles and values or do we want to return in the past? Are we in 2024 or are we going backwards in 1945 again? If in the previous year I published the importance of the year 1989 at Tiananmen Square in China, where tens of thousands died at the hand of the Chinese Communist Party, now I would like to return home and to ask, rhetorically or not, “35 years of… democracy?”. Were we really free within those 35 years or freedom remains to be an illusion, an ideal or a slogan? I did not plan to write such an article because I believe I am not worthy to speak about such powerful ideals, but I will try to say only this: WHO FIRED IN 1989? WHO ARE THE ONES WHO FIRED INTO THE POPULATION? Am I allowed to ask this question, dear readers? Is it legitimate to ask this question? Personally, I think so, because we still do not have a clear answer, after 35 years… So, if us, the citizens of Romania, are not allowed no receive an answer, can we still say that, in 1989, we became truly free?
National Landscape at the end of 2024 and after 35 years since the Revolution of 1989
An opinion poll of GLOBSEC from February 2024 and published in October 2024 evaluated the attitudes and opinion of the Romanian population in respect to democracy, human rights, the European Union and NATO.
First of all, after analyzing the results of the opinion poll, I can surely say that Romania is a pro-European country because we see that, in 2024, 84% of the Romanian people do want to remain within the EU[1]. However, we can also say that Romanians are very vulnerable to different narratives propagated by states that are threatening our national security such as the Russian Federation or the People’s Republic of China. The fact that the opinions do shift from 89% pro-European in 2020, then 75% in 2022 and then 83% in 2024 can be a vulnerability of many Romanians who fall into the trap of conspiracy theories, far-right ideology or far-left ideology. Therefore, a serious problem arises at the next implication of the opinion poll: 71% of the people are agreeing with the fact that “The European Union dictates to us what to do, without Romania being able to do anything about it”[2]. At the same time, 65% of the respondents think that because Romania is part of the EU, Romania has a word to say within global issues[3]. In my opinion, Romania has to negotiate its national interests better when it comes to the European Union, but I see very problematic that the majority of the Romanian people agree with the “EU-dictates” theory. In order for this to happen, the future Romanian government has to put competent people in key positions, people who know how to negotiate Romania’s interests and people who know how to hold a speech in European institutions so that Romania’s voice can be better heard.
Secondly, when it comes to NATO, there is a very strong opinion pro-NATO within the Romanian society (88%)[4]. However, if 88% of the Romanian people are truly thinking that it is an advantage the fact that Romania is part of NATO, why there were more than 2 million people who voted in the first round of presidential elections for a candidate (Călin Georgescu) who “famously” questioned the benefits of the Romania’s accession to NATO, who said that “NATO represents the weakest alliance on earth”[5], who described NATO as a “block of flats association” and also who was against Romania’s accession to the Schengen area? I wonder…
Thirdly, 74% of the Romanian people are considering Russia the main threat to the Romanian national security, but also 31% of the respondents are agreeing to the fact that the “Western societies and their way of life threaten the respondent’s own identity or values”[6], which is somewhat accurate with the recently results of the eurosceptic and pro-Kremlin parties (AUR, SOS and POT) at the recent parliamentary elections (32,5%)[7]. More worryingly, the number of those who believe that Russia is the main culprit in the war of aggression against Ukraine has decreased from 63% in 2022 to 55% in 2024[8], with 9% stating that they do not know, meaning that over 30% of people believe that Ukraine is the main culprit for this conflict.
Moreover, when it comes to the democratic values, I can see a most disappointing result, which underlines not only the poor Romanian education system, but also the tendency towards totalitarian ideologies: 36% of the respondents are agreeing with a totalitarian system with no elections. Furthermore, 41% OF THESE RESPONDESTS ARE YOUNG PEOPLE BETWEEN 18-34 YEARS[9]. Is this happening after 35 years from the Romanian revolution? Is this happening after, according to official numbers, 1166 men and women died in 1989? Is this the right way to go? Can we still talk about a democratic way of thinking or a powerful tendency towards the criminal totalitarian ideologies? One of the conclusions from GLOBSEC in terms of these results was “the group of those aged 35 to 54 was most likely to adopt pro-Kremlin positions”[10].
So, I am returning to the question that I previously asked myself at the beginning of my article: Are we in 2024 or are we going backwards in 1945 again? Do we want to return to the most criminal totalitarian regime the world has ever seen, namely COMMUNISM? An INSCOP opinion poll from 2023 came to the conclusion that 48,1% of the respondents believe that “the communist regime meant a good thing for Romania”[11]. At the same time 46,4% of the respondents believe that Romanians were living much better during communist times. The incompetency and the immediate interests of the Romanian politicians, the poor level of education and also the strong pro-Kremlin and pro-communist propaganda led to the most devastating result after 35 years of a democratic system with all its flaws. Almost half of the Romanian people think that communism was a good regime for Romania, even though there were more than 2 million victims of the communist regime in Romania and more than 100 million victims of communism in the world and still counting.
After I gathered the most important information, I will mention and briefly describe what could be 3 main reasons of having this devastating result:
- The poor level of education. For 35 years, there were 32 ministers of education, underlining the political instability and the lack of continuity within the reform of education which is paramount after 45 years of communist regime, when political propaganda and indoctrination were the basis of education. Only after 35 years from the Romanian Revolution and after the disaster in the first round of the presidential elections, when a candidate who criticizes NATO and the European Union and who comes with downright crazy conspiracy theories won the first round of elections, the Ministry of Education decided to include in the “History of Communism” within the school curriculum[12]. At the same time, Luciana Antoci, the school inspector for the Iasi county, underlined an essential problem when it comes to the difference between the results in urban and rural areas: “we see the best people [teachers] staying in urban schools, which are performing well anyway, and those who don’t have the best training go to schools that need very good teachers […] Until national policies are found to support, encourage, and retain quality human resources in rural schools, this gap between the results of students in rural areas and those of their colleagues in urban schools will not change significantly”[13]. At the same time, in 2024, at the National Evaluation exam (which represents the method of evaluation of Romanian and Mathematical skills at the end of the middle school cycle), around 48% of the pupils from the rural areas were not able to pass the exam at Maths[14].
- The continuous Russian and Chinese propaganda and disinformation. As we have seen in all major EU countries, there has been seen a massive propaganda and disinformation campaign for all the Eurosceptic parties on various social media websites (Facebook, Telegram and TikTok) coordinated by the enemies of the liberal democratic system, the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China. For example, because of the aid the German government was providing to Ukraine, Russia is currently seeing Germany as an enemy, as stated by Bruno Kahl, the head of the Bundesnachrichtendienst (the German Foreign Service): “The Kremlin sees the Federal Republic of Germany as an enemy”, warning at the same time that Russia will be able to attack NATO at the end of this decade[15]. Moreover, during this year, the EU was extremely worried about the Chinese spies which were infiltrated within the European Parliament, the most famous case being the arrest of J. Guo: “What sounds like the plot of a spy movie now seems to have become a reality: Chinese intelligence operators have successfully infiltrated the European Parliament (EP) – via right-wing populist politics”. One of the parties that also questions the remaining of Germany within the EU, namely Alternative for Germany, sent for within the European Parliament a guy named Maximilian Krah, who questioned even the torture management exerted by the Chinese authorities on the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. The vision of Krah can be summarized in the following words: “The oppression there, China’s military aggression and blackmail of other states should no longer play a role in German foreign and economic policy. Instead, Germany should become stronger in a free trade area with Russia through Chinese money in order to stand up to the USA. Krah has long been fighting for such a policy in the supposedly anti-communist AfD”[16].
- The general dissatisfaction of the population with the Romanian political class over the last 35 years. The neo-communist leadership beginning with the end of the year 1989 around the former communist nomenklatura, led by Ion Iliescu; the breath of clean air but insufficient represented by President Emil Constantinescu; the return to power of Ion Iliescu and the ascension of Prime-Minister Adrian Năstase; Romania’s entry into NATO (2004) and EU (2007) and the coming to power of Traian Băsescu (2004-2014), the president who negociated the location of the Deveselu shield in Romania; the ascention to the high political leadership of Victor Ponta, who became Prime-Minister within the timeframe 2012-2015; in 2016, Klaus Iohannis won the presidential elections and he is still the President of Romania (2024) until new elections will be organized and a new candidate will win the future presidential elections. During this time, there were 31 prime-ministers, 24 ministers of foreign relations, 29 ministers of internal relations, 32 ministers of education and 32 ministers of justice. In addition, there was no continuity in national strategies with 3 main exceptions: the entry of Romania in the EU and NATO and the strategic partnership with the United States. Other than these 3 main pillars of foreign relations, there was not national strategy in terms of education or justice and no grand national strategy similar with the grand strategies of the United States, with some exceptions only briefly mentioned by the former President of Romania, Traian Basescu.
The international landscape at the end of 2024
When we look at the international landscape, we are still not seeing an official condemnation of communism and a trial in favor of the communist victims similar with the Nürnberg Trials that condemned Nazism. We are still not seeing any proposal within the European Union to condemn communism in the most powerful way that Europe can, a sign that pro-Kremlin propaganda is also a ghost which is devastating the EU democratic values. Therefore, Karl Marx’s first sentence remains very current: “A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of communism”[17]. However, when I am analyzing the current international arena, in my opinion, the European Union and NATO represent not only the biggest achievements of Romania since 1989, but they represent the only military and economic security guarantees that Romania has in front of the immediate danger that is approaching: the axis Russia-China-North Korea-Iran. The reelection of Donald Trump should represent the guarantee that the United States is prepared to do whatever it takes not only to protect Europe from the disinformation campaigns coming from this axis, but also to oppose and sanction the forces of pure evil coming from the axis. Therefore, it is in the immediate interest of the members of the EU to increase their spending on defense from their GDP up to 3%, this representing the minimum in order to be able to prepare Europe for a possible war with Russia in the near future.
In conclusion, Romania has to clearly define its values, principles and ideas in conformity with the democratic system, and not going backwards to 1945, when the country was already started to be destroyed and devastated from “our friend from the East, the Soviet Union”. The prospect is not a promising one, especially when more than 40% of the young people are thinking that Romania should follow a totalitarian system. After 35 years, the spectre of communism is even more powerful within the Romanian society. One only has to open his/her eyes and see the election results and the powerful division within the Romanian society and to reflect on the people that were ready to put their stamp on a pro-Kremlin candidate, Calin Georgescu.
35 YEARS FROM THE ROMANIAN REVOLUTION… FREEDOM… FREEDOM… FREEDOM…
[1] Patrik SZICHERLE, “PUBLIC ATTITUDES IN ROMANIA. Remaining in the West with some doubts”, GLOBSEC, Slovak Republic, p. 7, accessed at https://www.globsec.org/sites/default/files/2024-10/Public%20Attitudes%20in%20Romania_RO.pdf on 18.12.2024
[2] Ibidem, p. 8
[3] Ibidem, p. 8
[4] Ibidem, p. 9
[5] “Călin Georgescu, încă o declarație controverstă: <<NATO este cea mai slabă alianță de pe fața pământului>>”, Digi24, 25th November 2024, accessed at https://www.digi24.ro/alegeri-prezidentiale-2024/calin-georgescu-inca-o-declaratie-controversata-nato-este-cea-mai-slaba-alianta-de-pe-fata-pamantului-3020853 on 18.12.2024
[6] Ibidem, p. 12
[7] “Parliamentary Election Results”, accessed at https://prezenta.roaep.ro/parlamentare01122024/pv/romania/results on 18.12.2024
[8] Ibidem, p. 13
[9] Ibidem, pp. 18-19
[10] Ibidem, p. 23
[11] “Sondaj INSCOP pentru News.ro – Aproape 50% dintre români cred că regimul comunist a însemnat un lucru bun pentur România, procent mai mare decât în urmă cu 10 ani / Peste 46% cred că înainte de 1989 se trăia mai bine comparativ cu situația din prezent”, News.ro, 13th December 2023, accessed at https://www.news.ro/politic-intern/sondaj-inscop-news-aproape-50-dintre-romani-cred-regimul-comunist-insemnat-lucru-bun-romania-procent-mare-urma-10-ani-peste-46-cred-inainte-1989-traia-bine-comparativ-situatia-prezent-1922400013002023120821420955 on 18.12.2024
[12] “Toți elevii de liceu, de clasele a XII-a și a XIII-a vor studia <<Istoria comunismului din România>>”, Digi24, 16.12.2024, accessed at https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/educatie/toti-elevii-de-liceu-din-clasele-a-xii-a-si-a-xiii-a-vor-studia-istoria-comunismului-din-romania-3048121 on 19.12.2024
[15] “Geheimdienste warnen vor zunehmender Russischen aktivität”, BR24 Redaktion, 14.10.2024, accessed at https://www.br.de/nachrichten/deutschland-welt/geheimdienste-warnen-vor-zunehmender-russischer-aktivitaet,URARyjL on 19.12.2024
[16] J. MUELLER-TÖWE, A. LEISTER, L. WIENAND, C. JANZ, M. GRAEWERT, “Das China-Gate des Afd-Spitzenkandidaten”, 01.10.2024, accessed at https://www.t-online.de/nachrichten/deutschland/innenpolitik/id_100247784/afd-maximilian-krah-das-geld-aus-china-und-die-geheimdienste.html on 19.12.2024
[17] Marx/Engels Selected Works, Vol. One, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1969, pp. 98-137, accessed at https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf on 18.12.2024
