In the 1960s, Romania was looking for its own voice on the international
\npolitical arena. Having moved, after 1945, under the sphere of influence of the
\nSoviet Union together with the whole of Eastern Europe, it was forced to change
\nits political and social-development model. Its foreign policy was also affected,
\nthe break-up of ties with the western world being the first directive issued from
\nMoscow. From 1948, when the communist regime fully came to power, until the beginning of the 1960s,
\nisolationism and hostility towards the West and the capitalist world dominated Romania’s
\nforeign policy. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Stalin’s death in 1963, Khrushchev’s condemnation
\nof Stalin and the USSR’s intervention against the Hungarian revolution of 1956 were
\nsome of the most important events leading up to a change in the international
\nrelations of the former socialist bloc. The Soviet Union began to diminish its
\ncontrol over the states it had occupied after 1945, while these countries’
\ncommunist leaders were trying to rebuild the ties affected after the war. Romania
\nwas itself trying to rebuild its international identity. Its foreign ministry
\nwas in need of a reformist leader, and Corneliu M\u0103nescu,
\nRomania’s ambassador to Hungary, was believed to be fit for the job. In 1961,
\nhe was summoned in Bucharest and told he would take over as Romania’s foreign
\nminister by the head of state himself, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At that time, Romania had diplomatic ties with around 30 states. M\u0103nescu
\nbelieved this was risible and the first thing he did was opening an avenue of communication
\nwith the United Nations, where Romania did find friends. One such friend was the
\nBurmese diplomat U Thant, the organisation’s third secretary general. Romania was
\nthus accepted as a United Nations member in 1955. In 1994, Radio Romania’s Oral
\nHistory Centre recorded an interview with Corneliu M\u0103nescu, who was 78 at the
\ntime: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
U Thant was a great friend of Romania. He helped us become an
\nhonourable member of the United Nations Organisation and establish the UN
\ncentre in Bucharest, as well as with many other things. He did everything he
\ncould to help us. In 1968, when Romania was at threat from [Russian] invasion, he
\nwas the first person I got in touch with in New York and he promised to hold an
\nextraordinary international meeting of the United Nations to support us. So, we
\nowe him our respect and gratitude.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Corneliu M\u0103nescu also sought to restore Romania’s ties with the West,
\nbeginning with France:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In 1961, when I took over the foreign ministry, Romania almost only had
\nties with the states in the Warsaw Pact. With the western states, alongside
\nwhich we fought against Hitler’s armies, we had been in a state of near war since
\n1945. Relations had been almost frozen. From 1961, we systematically began to
\nexpand our ties. First of all, we restored relations with countries like
\nFrance. In 1961, our relations with France were almost non-existent. I met the
\nthen French foreign minister Couve de Murville in 1961 in the first year of my
\ntenure and he invited me to France. I immediately said yes, which wasn’t regular
\npractice. It wasn’t customary for someone to make such a decision on their own.
\nOf course, I later also received the approval from back home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Another western country Romania set its sights on was Italy:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania was having an unforgivable attitude towards international
\norganisations, it was rejecting them, rejecting assistance. I will never forget
\na discussion I had with the Italian prime minister Amintore Fanfani in
\nBucharest when I told him Romania needed the help of industrial countries, such
\nas Italy. And he said ‘What took you so long? We waited for you to ask for our
\nhelp but you never asked. So, we gave our help to the countries who asked,
\nespecially Yugoslavia’. These were Fanfani’s words.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania would make the big step in 1967, namely restoring ties with West
\nGermany. Romanian communist-era foreign minister Corneliu M\u0103nescu recalls:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
At around that time I gave an interview to a reporter from The Christian Science Monitor, his name was Rossi and was working in New York.
\nHe asked me about our attitude towards West Germany, whether we wanted ties
\nwith them, whether we believe we should have a formalised, stable relationship.
\nAnd he also asked if I thought Germany was fascist, to which I categorically replied:
\n‘No!’ This interview sparked a lot of discontent among the other Warsaw Pact
\ncountries, especially East Germany, who protested vehemently. They asked me
\nwhat right did I have to express such a position. But this didn’t change anything,
\nthings had been clarified, it was something that needed to be done.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Corneliu M\u0103nescu was a successful foreign minister and enjoyed support
\nfrom the highest level. On 19th September 1967, he was elected
\npresident of the 22nd session of the UN General Assembly, being the
\nfirst representative of a socialist country to occupy this position. At this
\ntime, Romania’s image abroad was excellent, something it would go on to take
\nadvantage of throughout the 1980s. (CM)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the 1960s, Romania was looking for its own voice on the international political arena.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":50395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41141],"tags":[31270,116464],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-131227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-history-show","tag-diplomacy","tag-romania-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n