Romania - twenty years on

Romania - twenty years on

Across Eastern Europe, people are looking back, and reflecting on the revolutions of 1989, taking stock of how far their countries have come these past twenty years, and whether their hopes have been met.

Perhaps nowhere is there more soul searching than in Romania, where I've just spent a few days compiling reports for Al Jazeera.

It was the most dramatic revolution of 1989, the only one that resulted in widespread blood-shed.

More than one thousand people were killed in days of chaotic street-fighting, culminating in the hurried execution of the dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu.

This contemporary British tv report captures the confused flavour of those times http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8YiIBER9zw, (it's also a depressing reminder of how domestic British tv used to do much more in-depth reporting of foreign news in those days).

Since then, Romania has come far; it's a member of the EU, and living standards have improved dramatically. But the legacy of 1989 is fiercely contested, and Romanians still wonder whether their revolution was "stolen" by a corrupt elite, who were pulling strings from behind the scenes and discreetly arranging their  own ascent to power. 

Accusations of corruption, and collaboration with the old communist regime, have been a staple of Romanian politics ever since. They were certainly at the forefront of last week's presidential election, which resulted in a narrow, and contested,  victory for the incumbent, Traian Basescu. 

His opponent, former foreign minister Mircea Geoana, is alleging fraud, and has taken the issue to the Supreme Court http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/24301/.

I don't know whether there was ballot stuffing. But I did attend the final presidential debate, between Mr Basescu and Mr Geoana, and it was obvious that the two men loathe each other. 

Romania now faces a difficult path ahead. It's in a protracted political crisis, and Mr Basescu will struggle to appoint a new prime minister and government. That, in turn, will probably delay the disbursement of emergency IMF loans, intended to help Romania through a sharp economic downturn. So 2010 could bring troubled times to Romania, a country still struggling to emerge from the long shadow of Ceausescu's dictatorship.