Former Romanian President Iliescu, who led free market transition, dies at 95
FILE PHOTO: Former Romanian President Ion Iliescu gestures during a meeting with foreign media in Bucharest May 17, 2007. REUTERS/Mihai Barbu (ROMANIA)/File Photo
Romania's former President Ion Iliescu, who led its transition from communism and set it on the path to European Union and NATO membership, but faced charges of crimes against humanity for violently suppressing protests in the 1990s, died on Tuesday aged 95.
Iliescu had been admitted to hospital with lung cancer roughly two months ago. The government said he would receive a state funeral.
"History will judge Ion Iliescu, the main figure of the 1990s transition," said current President Nicusor Dan.
Iliescu went from a rising member of Romania's Communist Party to a leader of the bloody December 1989 revolution - which toppled dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and led to his summary execution on Christmas Day - to become the first freely elected president.
At the height of his popularity, Romanians were known to chant "The sun shines, Iliescu appears". But when student protests against him broke out in the capital Bucharest in June 1990, he called on coal miners, then politically influential, to put them down by force.
After repeated failed attempts to investigate him, he was sent for trial at the start of this year on charges of crimes against humanity for his part in violence in which 20,000 miners entered the capital to crush peaceful anti-government protests. Four people were killed and hundreds injured.
He always denied wrongdoing and was never convicted.
Miners' riots throughout the 1990s hampered Romania's transition to a market economy and deterred badly needed foreign investment for years. Iliescu's critics have accused him of delaying the transitions, trying to block reform and protect the political heritage and ruling elite of the Communist system.
But Iliescu was also the one who got all political parties to agree to support Romania's path to EU and NATO membership. It joined the NATO alliance in 2004 and the EU in 2007.
The founder of the leftist Social Democrat Party (PSD), to this day the country's largest, Iliescu is its only leader to have won three presidential elections. No other PSD leader has managed to win since his last term ended in 2004.
"Ion Iliescu must be understood in the context of his time," said Sergiu Miscoiu, a political science professor at Babes-Bolyai University. "He stirred anti-totalitarian sentiments in the 1990s, rightly so, but he was also the object of adulation by a large part of the population.
"While he called miners to Bucharest and sealed the slow and uncertain transition, he also ... pushed Romania on a Euroatlantic path, such as it was understood at the time."
He is survived by his wife Nina.
The government has declared August 7 a day of national mourning. REUTERS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
a few seconds ago
- Straits Times
Returned and reeling: Afghans expelled from Iran struggle to start over
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox ISLAM QALA, Afghanistan, August 7 - Habiba, an Afghan woman who fled Taliban rule to pursue a master's degree in engineering in Iran, was deported in July just before she was about to complete her studies. The 31-year-old, who declined to give her family name for fear of repercussions, said she returned to her homeland with little more than her laptop and documents, the last traces of a future she nearly secured, one of hundreds of thousands forced to return in recent weeks as Iran ramped up expulsions of Afghans in the wake of its war with Israel. "I was so close," Habiba told Reuters at the Afghan border post of Islam Qala. She said she had just saved enough to complete her thesis, the final step before graduation, and now will have to start over in a country where women are barred from high school, let alone university. Aid agencies say accusations by Iranian authorities that Afghan nationals were spying for Israel triggered a surge in deportations, with the UN refugee agency UNHCR reporting nearly 700,000 Afghans expelled from Iran since the beginning of June. The two countries share a 920-km (550-mile) land border through a flat, arid landscape. Iranian officials maintain those deported were undocumented and most left voluntarily, citing security and resource concerns. Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said in July that 70% of the 1 million who left since March did so by choice, local media reported. Local media quoted Nader Yarahmadi, an adviser to Iran's Interior Ministry and head of its Centre for Foreign Nationals and Immigrants Affairs, as saying that temporary census cards held by about 2 million Afghan nationals were invalidated from March and that they had until July to leave. An additional 2.1 million Afghans in Iran had no documents, he said. The number of Afghans returning exploded after Israel and Iran fought a 12-day war in June. UNHCR estimates Iran deported an average of more than 30,000 Afghans each day during the war, up 15-fold from about 2,000 earlier. But Iranian officials have downplayed espionage claims as isolated media reports. The crackdown is on illegal immigrants, Yarahmadi said. Aid workers at Islam Qala said some of the returnees arrived after days without food or water. Momeni said deportations were conducted with 'respect and dignity,' but admitted the war triggered rushed exits, leaving many without their wages or possessions. Reuters interviewed 26 Afghans who had recently returned from Iran, many of whom described coming home to a country that now feels unfamiliar and unlivable. Most of them denied they were illegal immigrants in Iran and said they had held some form of documentation. BACK TO CONFINEMENT Rahela, 37, said she had built a steady livelihood in Tehran as a certified makeup artist and seamstress. Now back in the Afghan city of Herat with her two daughters, she says she sees no future. She says she separated from her husband several years ago after he struggled with drug addiction, and has been raising her daughters alone ever since. The Taliban's restrictions bar women from most forms of employment and from travelling long distances without a male guardian. 'I have no helper and no male guardian (mahram),' she said. Her father, although a mahram, is elderly and unable to accompany her or provide support, leaving her effectively confined, she said. The flood of refugees returning to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan is straining aid in a country already grappling with economic collapse, donor fatigue and a ban on girls' secondary education. But it is the post-conflict purge from Iran that has overwhelmed Afghan authorities and aid workers, many of whom say they were unprepared for the scale and speed of the deportations. The Taliban-led government has urged Iran to proceed gradually, and allow returnees time to settle financial affairs and retrieve personal property. While the women who have returned spoke of lost rights and opportunities, Afghan men described split families, derailed plans and an uncertain future. Rahim Uzbek, 59, said he was arrested at his job as a security guard, deported alone, and is now living in a mosque near the Islam Qala crossing, away from his two wives and seven children who remained in Iran, although they were also Afghan nationals. He said that he had some money tied up in an advance payment for rent in Iran, but the landlord did not return it. 'I have no assets or savings, nor do I have any shelter or place to stay,' he said, with tears in his eyes. 'I have no idea what to do.' Mansoor Ahmad, 21, a metalworker from Kabul, said he was arrested at work and deported without his family. He said Iranian officers accused him of helping someone escape a deportation camp and beat him when he denied it. 'When I spoke, they beat me. When I stayed silent, they beat me again,' he said. 'Then they put me in solitary.' Red marks and bruises were visible on his back and shoulders, consistent with being struck or kicked. SECURITY AND EMPLOYMENT Iranian officials deny systemic abuse. The Iranian chargé d'affaires in Kabul, Alireza Bigdeli, said there were no official reports of mistreatment but acknowledged 'some may be unhappy with the way they were treated, detained, or returned.' Iranian authorities say they tried to prevent family separations but admit the post-war rush split some families. Students were encouraged to leave with relatives under a voluntary return plan. While many of the Afghans said life in Iran was tough, marked by discrimination, high costs and a constant sense of being unwelcome, they still had goals. Some worked, others studied. 'The situation in Iran was very difficult,' said Rahela. 'People treated us harshly. They humiliated and insulted us. But at least there was security and work. Women could work... and that was good for us." REUTERS
AsiaOne
31 minutes ago
- AsiaOne
'I won't humiliate myself': Brazil's president sees no point in tariff talks with Trump, World News
BRASILIA — As US tariffs on Brazilian goods jumped to 50 per cent on Wednesday (Aug 6), Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Reuters in an interview that he saw no room for direct talks now with US President Donald Trump that would likely be a "humiliation." Brazil is not about to announce reciprocal tariffs, he said. Nor will his government give up on cabinet-level talks. But Lula himself is in no rush to ring the White House. "The day my intuition says Trump is ready to talk, I won't hesitate to call him," Lula said in an interview from his presidential residence in Brasilia. "But today my intuition says he doesn't want to talk. And I won't humiliate myself." Despite Brazil's exports facing one of the highest tariffs imposed by Trump, the new US trade barriers look unlikely to derail Latin America's largest economy, giving Lula more room to stand his ground against Trump than most Western leaders. Lula described US-Brazil relations at a 200-year nadir after Trump tied the new tariff to his demands for an end to the prosecution of right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is standing trial for plotting to overturn the 2022 election. The president said Brazil's Supreme Court, which is hearing the case against Bolsonaro, "does not care what Trump says and it should not," adding that Bolsonaro should face another trial for provoking Trump's intervention, calling the right-wing former president a "traitor to the homeland." "We had already pardoned the US intervention in the 1964 coup," said Lula, who got his political start as a union leader protesting against the military government that followed a US-backed ouster of a democratically elected president. "But this now is not a small intervention. It's the president of the United States thinking he can dictate rules for a sovereign country like Brazil. It's unacceptable." The Brazilian president said he had no personal issues with Trump, adding that they could meet at the United Nations next month or UN climate talks in November. But he noted Trump's track record of dressing down White House guests such as South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. "What Trump did with Zelenskiy was humiliation. That's not normal. What Trump did with Ramaphosa was humiliation," Lula said. "One president can't be humiliating another. I respect everyone and I demand respect." [[nid:720809]] Lula said his ministers were struggling to open talks with US peers, so his government was focused on domestic policies to cushion the economic blow of US tariffs, while maintaining "fiscal responsibility." The president declined to elaborate on pending measures to support Brazilian companies, which are expected to include credit lines and other export assistance. He also said he was planning to call leaders from the BRICS group of developing nations, starting with India and China, to discuss the possibility of a joint response to US tariffs. "There is no coordination among the BRICS yet, but there will be," Lula said, comparing multilateral action to the strength of collective bargaining in his union days. "What is the negotiating power of one little country with the United States? None." Separately, he said Brazil was looking at lodging a collective complaint with other countries at the World Trade Organisation. "I was born negotiating," said Lula, who was raised in poverty and rose through union ranks to serve two terms as president from 2003 to 2010, then re-entered politics in the 2022 election to defeat the incumbent Bolsonaro. But he said he was in no rush to strike a deal or retaliate against US tariffs: "We need to be very cautious," he said. Asked about countermeasures targeting US companies, such as greater taxation of big technology companies, Lula said his government was studying ways to tax US firms on equal standing with Brazilian companies. Lula also described plans to create a new national policy for Brazil's strategic mineral resources, treating them as a matter of "national sovereignty" to break with a history of mining exports that added little value in Brazil. [[nid:721044]]
AsiaOne
31 minutes ago
- AsiaOne
US lawmaker questions Intel CEO's ties to China in letter to company board chair, World News
SAN FRANCISCO — US Republican Senator Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel's board chair on Wednesday (Aug 6) with questions about the chipmaker's new CEO Lip-Bu Tan's ties to Chinese firms and a recent criminal case involving his former company Cadence Design. Writing to "express concern about the security and integrity of Intel's operations and its potential impact on US national security", Cotton asked in the letter to Intel chairperson Frank Yeary whether the company's board was aware of the subpoenas sent to Cadence during Tan's time there as CEO before Intel hired him. Cotton asked what measures were taken to address those concerns. He also asked whether Intel's board required Tan to divest from chip firms in China linked to the Chinese military or Communist Party, and if Tan adequately disclosed other ties to Chinese companies due to Intel's involvement in the Secure Enclave programme, an initiative designed under the Biden administration to ensure a secure supply of microelectronics for defence. Because of Intel getting federal funding under the initiative, Cotton questioned Yeary in the letter about Tan's disclosures related to investment, professional roles or other ties to Chinese companies. "Intel is required to be a responsible steward of American taxpayer dollars and to comply with applicable security regulations," Cotton wrote. "Mr. Tan's associations raise questions about Intel's ability to fulfil these obligations." In a statement, an Intel spokesperson said, "Intel and Mr. Tan are deeply committed to the national security of the United States and the integrity of our role in the US defence ecosystem." The company said it would address the matters in the letter with the Senator. In April, Reuters reported Tan — himself or through venture funds he has founded or operates — has invested in hundreds of Chinese companies, some of which are linked to the Chinese military. The Intel CEO invested at least US$200 million (S$256 million) in hundreds of Chinese advanced manufacturing and chip firms between March 2012 and December 2024, Reuters found. A source familiar with the matter had at the time told Reuters that Tan had divested from his positions in entities in China, without providing further details. Chinese databases reviewed by Reuters at the time had listed many of his investments as current, and Reuters was at the time unable to establish the extent of his divestitures. Cotton's letter mentioned the Reuters story as a source. Cadence reaches settlements It is not illegal for US citizens to hold stakes in Chinese companies, even those with ties to the Chinese military, unless those companies have been added to the US Treasury's Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List, which explicitly bans such investments. Reuters in April had found no evidence that Tan at the time was invested directly in any company on the US Treasury's list. Separately, last week Cadence Design agreed to plead guilty and pay more than US$140 million to resolve charges for selling its chip design products to a Chinese military university, Reuters reported. The institution was believed to be involved in simulating nuclear blasts. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Cadence said it was "pleased" to reach settlements with the Justice and Commerce departments. Tan ran Cadence as CEO from 2008 through 2021 and was executive chairman until May 2023. The sales to Chinese entities occurred under his leadership at Cadence, which makes design software and other tools used to create chips. [[nid:720740]]
