About Romania

Political Situation
After the end of the Second World War, Romania fell under Soviet occupation, the monarchy was abolished, Romania's king Michael was forced into exile and the communist government proclaim the country a "People's Republic." Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, Romania adopted a neo-Stalinist form and style of government, rebuilding the economy with particular emphasis on heavy industry, and purging religious and political opponents. Romania joined the Warsaw Pact in 1955. Soviet occupation troops withdrew from Romania in 1958.

In 1965 Nicolae Ceausescu took over as leader of Romania and pursued a policy of relative independence from Moscow. During his 25 year long dictatorship, his rule became increasingly oppressive and draconian, especially through the 1980s. The collapse of communism in Romania was marked by countrywide protests that swept the Ceausescu regime from power in 1989. Following a summary military trial, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed on 25 December 1989. An ad-hoc governing coalition, the “National Salvation Front,” led by a second-tier former communist official, Ion Iliescu (who later served two terms as Romania=s President), assumed power and drafted a new democratic constitution that was approved by popular referendum in December 1991.

Today's Romania is a democracy, a parliamentary republic with a bi-cameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies. The members of the 137-seat Senate are elected by direct popular vote on a proportional representation basis for four-year terms, as are the members of the 332-seat Chamber of Deputies. The Head of State of Romania is the President, elected by popular vote for a five-year term, with a runoff between the top two candidates, if necessary. The President appoints the judges to the Supreme Court of Justice and the Prime Minister, who then forms his Council of Ministers.

Romanian Presidential and Parliamentary elections last took place in November 2004. In a runoff held in December 2004, the opposition candidate and former Bucharest mayor Traian Basescu, defeated his opponent, former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, by a very slim margin, to become the new President of Romania. Ignoring protests from the former ruling party, the Social-Democrats, that they were entitled to be given a mandate to form the government, as they had won the most seats in the Chamber of Deputies, Basescu nominated Liberal party leader Calin Popescu-Tariceanu as Prime Minister and, with him, proceeded to assemble a four-way coalition that enjoys a slim parliamentary majority, while excluding the Social-Democrats from power. The ruling coalition includes two larger parties (the Democrats and the Liberals), as well as two smaller parties (the ethnic Hungarian party, UDMR, and the Humanistic party (which later changed its name to Conservative party).

Economic Situation
Romania has also overcome numerous economic challenges. The economy was on the verge of collapse in the 1980s following Ceausescu=s rapid repayment of USD 11 billion in foreign debt (20-30% of GDP) through deep cuts in imports. Although the legal basis for a market economy was in place by 1994, the strategy failed to produce sustainable gains in either economic or social conditions. It was not until the year 2000 that the Romanian economy began to register growth, and inflation as well as unemployment began to decline.

Inflation, which had been a problem area for some years, is down markedly from 17.1% in 2002 to about 8% in 2005. Economic growth has been among the strongest in the region, rising from 2.4% in 2002 to 8.3% in 2004 and reaching 4.1% in 2005. Investments in Romania are expected to increase as the country moves toward EU membership. Romania is considered a booming market by multinationals and was ranked the third most promising economy after Russia and Turkey for 2006-2007. Together with Russia and Ukraine, it is one of the fastest growing Central European economies.

Foreign Policy
Romania is playing an increasingly international role. The success of the Romanian government in receiving an invitation to join NATO at the November 2002 Prague Summit fulfilled a key foreign policy priority for the country. Canada has always been a strong supporter of NATO enlargement and it was the first to ratify the accession protocols of the prospective members on March 28, 2003. Romania (together with Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia) assumed all NATO rights and obligations on March 29, 2004, and were welcomed to the Alliance at a meeting of Foreign Ministers on April 2, 2004.

Romania's fundamental foreign policy priority is its accession to the European Union. Romania became an EU candidate in 1999. In his victory statement, the new President has reaffirmed this priority. The new Romanian government has worked to refashion Romania's image in a push to join the EU by 2007. Romania is also an active member of La Francophonie and has ratified the Ottawa Convention on Anti-Personnel Landmines in November 2000. The country is a strong supporter of international antiterrorism efforts. Romania is also assisting the international effort in Afghanistan and Iraq and sat on the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member for the January 2004 – December 2005 term. In May 2006, Romania was elected a member of the newly-created UN Human Rights Council, which has replaced the UN Human Rights Commission. Romania hosts the next Summit of La Francophonie in Bucharest in late September 2006.

Last updated: RES / September 2006

Fact sheet on Romania