The some twenty years following the events of December 1989 may well be called a time of transition, although at the beginning it was not clear what direction political development would take. It was soon evident that Romania’s ties to Europe, built up in the course of some two centuries, had been severely strained by the Communist experiment, and thus the 1990s and the following decade are sometimes called the era of the “return to Europe.” The description is apt, if we conclude that Romania had left Europe during the Communist period. Yet, the Iron Curtain was more porous, even in the case of Romania, than is often acknowledged.

Politics

After an initial confusion of political tendencies, one, leading toward a European-style parliamentary democracy and membership in Western economic and security organizations, gradually became paramount. Nonetheless, Communist rule had left its mark in many areas of public life, especially on the mentality of the political and managerial class. In the early years of the transition, therefore, former Communists, as we may call them, who dominated political life, had to adjust to unfamiliar ways. The majority eventually saw the wisdom of accommodation with the West, and it was the members of the pre-1989 elite, mainly those of the second rank, who were largely responsible for the country’s reconnecting with the West. The forces opposed to the former Communists also played a significant role in restoring ties to Europe, but in the nineties these parties and groups achieved unity of purpose only on rare occasions. All these ambitions and hesitations – left, right, and center – go far toward explaining the complexity of the time.