Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu – one of the most influential yet controversial political figures of post-communist Romania – died on August 5 at 3:55 PM, at the SRI Hospital in Bucharest. He was 95 years old. Despite his notoriety, his biography remains a source of frustration for historians, with major gaps obscuring key aspects of his life.
Ion Iliescu was one of the most controversial politicians of post-communist Romania, both revered and repudiated.
He died holding onto his own versions of the events of December 1989 and the Mineriads of the 1990s—versions not confirmed by history—leaving it to the justice system to determine the truth and assign responsibility.
During the 11 years he led Romania, across three terms as president at Cotroceni Palace, Ion Iliescu remains the head of state who signed the NATO accession treaty in 2004—seven years behind other former Eastern Bloc countries.
He also remains the president who opposed the official condemnation of communism and the exposure of those responsible for crimes committed under the former regime. And his full biography—just as it was—remains to be discovered.
Ion Iliescu Deceived Us: There Is No Such Thing as “Original Democracy”; There Is No Alternative to Freedom
Romania didn’t just lose a decade—it lost much more than that.
In the confusion of the 1990s, Ion Iliescu introduced the idea that Romania would take a different, intelligent, and adaptive path. We would not follow communism, nor capitalism (a word he barely uttered), but a third way. According to his own expression, we were to undergo a “gradual transition,” not a “shock therapy.”
Constantin Stroe: The Mineriad Delayed Renault’s Investment in Romania by 8 Years
But Iliescu’s discourse wasn’t truly about economics. Its consequences, however, inevitably appeared in the economy and in the population’s low standard of living.
The Mineriad, incited by Ion Iliescu, led to the delay of foreign investments—with concrete examples. Constantin Stroe, the former director of Dacia, recounted how Renault was ready to return to Romania in 1990. The French company wanted to counter Audi’s investment in the Czech Republic, where the Germans had acquired Skoda.
It’s a clear and telling case.
Renault entered discussions and invited the Romanian delegation to visit their factory in Lille. But soon after, violent scenes from University Square and central Bucharest emerged. A country where the regime’s “unofficial army” punishes civilians was not a free country, nor one with a trustworthy justice system—and thus not a profitable one in the long run. The events made the French pull out.
Renault didn’t return until 1999. Today, Renault Dacia is the second-largest company in Romania by revenue, according to the latest Termene rankings.
Who Entered Parliament
Freedom was lacking not only in the economy, but also in politics. Because freedom is indivisible.
Liiceanu, Pleșu, Dinescu, and Hăulică ran as independents in the 1990 elections—Romania’s first free elections. None of them made it into Parliament.
In a recent interview (apologies, I don’t have the link on hand), Viorel Hrebenciuc stated that if the intellectuals had come to him and asked for help, “he would have sorted it out.” He would have gotten them into Parliament by shifting votes from Ion Iliescu’s party, which had plenty to spare. That’s what he claimed he did for the UDMR as well.
Even if the statement is merely boastful recollection, it reflects the reality of the so-called “third way”—an “original democracy.”
No, there is no other path but freedom.
Sources:
europalibera.org
hotnews.ro
