Reactions to former president Ion Iliescu’s passing

Former president Iona Iliescu passed away on Tuesday, aged 95.

Corina Cristea, 06.08.2025, 14:00

The news of the passing of the first president of democratic Romania, Ion Iliescu, came as little surprise. At the age of 95, the former head of state had been treated in a hospital in Bucharest for two months, being diagnosed with lung cancer. A controversial politician, Ion Iliescu led the country for 11 years, playing a decisive role in steering it towards the EU and NATO after managing to convince all political parties to support it.

Nevertheless, Ion Iliescu, a former prominent member of the Communist Party, who later fell into Nicolae Ceaușescu’s disgrace, is at the same time accused by some historians of having created, together with the National Salvation Front, which he founded immediately after the dictator’s fall, an atmosphere of chaos that allowed them to seize power and which caused casualties on the streets. That is because, although Ceaușescu was in the custody of the army, over 800 people had been shot dead until the day of the dictator’s execution.

At the same time, Ion Iliescu is accused of crimes against humanity for the violent repression of peaceful student protests against the government in the 1990s, the famous miners’ riots, which resulted in deaths and hundreds of injuries, hampered Romania’s transition to a market economy and discouraged the much-needed foreign investment for many years.

Beyond lights and shadows, after his death, personalities of Romanian public life sent messages of condolences. A prominent personality of recent history, Ion Iliescu, the first president of the democratic Romania, had a major contribution in defining moments for the destiny of Romanians, such as joining NATO and the EU, said the interim president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Sorin Grindeanu. The National Liberal Party (PNL) also says that Ion Iliescu was an important personality of the post-1989 politics and the first democratically elected president after 1989, and that his activity influenced significant moments in the country’s recent history.

In turn, the president of the Save Romania Union (USR), Dominic Fritz, emphasizes the role that Ion Iliescu had in Romania’s strategic orientation towards NATO and the EU, but, at the same time, he emphasizes that “we cannot overlook the suffering of those who paid with blood for the right to freedom and democracy during the revolution and the miners’ riots”.

In a message posted on the Facebook page of the Presidential Administration, Romanian President Nicusor Dan says that history will judge Ion Iliescu, the central figure of the transition of the 1990s. He also says that it is our obligation to shed light on the big cases of the era in order to move forward responsibly. Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan also points out that Iliescu’s passing is the end of a significant stage in the country’s recent history, marked by the post-communist transition and essential transformations in public life. Ion Iliescu now enters history and its rightful analysis, Bolojan’s message says. Former presidents Emil Constantinescu, Traian Băsescu and Klaus Iohannis also sent messages of condolence. (EE)