Wikileaks - I

"337","2/3/1990 14:46","90MOSCOW4215","Embassy Moscow","SECRET","","O 031446Z FEB 90 ZFF4
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO SECSTATE WASHDC NIACT IMMEDIATE 5818
INFO AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST
","S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 04215

FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY FROM HA A/S SCHIFTER

E.O. 12356: DECL: OADR
TAGS: PREL, US, RO
SUBJECT: IMPRESSIONS OF POLITICAL SITUATION IN ROMANIA

1. (SECRET - ENTIRE TEXT.)

2. DURING MY SHORT STAY IN ROMANIA I MET WITH FOREIGN MINISTER ALAC, DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER NEAGU, JUSTICE MINISTER POP, RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS MINISTER STOICESCU, LEADERS OF THE TRADITIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES (PEASANTS, NATIONAL LIBERALS, AND SOCIAL DEMOCRATS) AND LEADERS OF TWO NEWLY CREATED LABOR UNIONS. I SPOKE AT LENGTH TO THE AMBASSADOR, THE DCM, AND POLITICAL OFFICERS AND FOUND ALL OF THEM IN STRONG AGREEMENT IN THEIR ASSESSMENT OF THE SITUATION HERE: IF ANYONE CAN SAVE ROMANIA FROM THE CHAOS IT WILL HAVE TO BE THE NATIONAL SALVATION FRONT, THAT THE FRONT\'S BASIC INCLINATION IS TO ESTABLISH A DEMOCRACY, THAT OUR INVOLVEMENT IN ROMANIA CAN STRENGTHEN THAT INCLINATION, THAT THE LEADERS OF THE OLD PARTIES SIMPLY DON\'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO LEAD, AND THAT THERE IS NO OTHER POLITICAL FORCE ON THE SCENE. THE EMBASSY ALSO BELIEVES THAT ANALYSES MADE IN WASHINGTON ON THE BASIS OF VARIOUS FRAGMENTS OF INFORMATION LACK THE FEELING THAT CAN BE PROVIDED ONLY BY ON-THE-SPOT OBSERVATION. I FIND MYSELF IN FULL AGREEMENT WITH ALL ASPECTS OF THE EMBASSY\'S ASSESSMENT.

3. NONE OF THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS WITH WHOM I MET REFLECTED ANY COMMUNIST THINKING IN THEIR REMARKS TO ME. THE EMBASSY STRONGLY PROTESTED AGAINST THE TRASHING OF PEASANT PARTY HEADQUARTERS BY FRONT SUPPORTERS AND I BELIEVE THE PROTEST WAS DULY NOTED. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT OUR POLICY SHOULD BE BASED ON THAT SINGLE INCIDENT. IF ACTIONS OF THIS KIND EVER BECOME A PATTERN, WE WOULD, OF COURSE, HAVE TO REASSESS THE SITUATION.

4. JUSTICE MINISTER POP SPENT QUITE SOME TIME OUTLINING HIS OBJECTIVES. HE WAS CLEARLY WELL VERSED IN WESTERN LEGAL THINKING. HE SPOKE OF PLANS FOR THE ADOPTION OF A NEW CONSTITUTION AND GUARANTEEING INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT. HE SPOKE ALSO OF HIS PLANS TO ESTABLISH AN INDEPENDENT JUDICIAL SYSTEM. I DID NOT HAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT HE WAS MOUTHING PHRASES. IT SEEMED ALL WELL THOUGHT THROUGH AND GENUINE.

5. RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS MINISTER STOICESCU WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT ONLY BECAUSE HE WAS SO STRONG AN ORTHODOX BELIEVER THAT HE LEFT ME WITH THE IMPRESSION THAT OTHER DENOMINATIONS MIGHT NOT GET A FAIR SHAKE. I TRIED TO IMPRESS ON HIM THAT HE MUST LIVE UP TO ROMANIA\'S HELSINKI COMMITMENT TO RESPECT ALL RELIGIONS AND URGED HIM TO ENGAGE IN A DIALOGUE WITH THE EMBASSY ON THIS SUBJECT. STOICESCU IS CLEARLY A LONG-TERM ENEMY OF COMMUNISM, COMING FROM THE OLD-LINE CONSERVATIVE CAMP. AS I WAS PREACHING TO HIM ABOUT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, HE EYED ME SUSPICIOUSLY AT ONE POINT AND ASKED WHETHER I WAS A BAPTIST. (THE BAPTISTS WANT HIS MINISTRY TO BE ABOLISHED.)

6. THE FOREIGN MINISTRY OFFICIALS STRONGLY EMPHASIZED THEIR INTENTIONS TO HAVE ROMANIA LIVE UP TO ALL ITS OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE HELSINKI FINAL ACT. CELAC TENDED TO BE SOMEWHAT OBNOXIOUS IN HIS COMPLAINT ABOUT U.S. ALLEGED FAILURE TO EXPRESS ITSELF IN SUPPORT OF ROMANIAN DEMOCRACY. HE MEANT THAT WE HAD NOT SENT A SIGNAL IN THE DIRECTION OF THE NSF.

7. AS TO THE LEADER OF THE TRADITIONAL PARTIES, I WAS LEFT WITH THE IMPRESSION THAT THEY HAVE SIMPLY COME OUT OF RETIREMENT TO ANNOUNCE THAT THEY HAVE SURVIVED. IT DOES NOT SEEM AS IF THEY HAVE MADE MUCH OF AN EFFORT TO PUT AN ORGANIZATION TOGETHER. NEVERTHELESS, GIVEN THE AD HOC CHARACTER OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT AND THE GENERAL ATTITUDE OF UNCERTAINTY, THE INCLUSION OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE TRADITIONAL PARTIES IN THE TRANSITION GOVERNMENT WOULD BE OF SYMBOLIC VALUE AND WOULD HAVE A REASSURING EFFECT ON THE GENERAL PUBLIC.

8. MY OVERALL IMPRESSION, BASED ON WHAT I HAVE READ AS WELL AS WHAT I SAW IN BUCHAREST, IS THE FOLLOWING: THE ROMANIAN COMMUNIST PARTY THAT EMERGED AT THE END OF THE STALIN ERA HAS LIKE THE OTHER COMMUNIST PARTIES IN EASTERN EUROPE IN THAT IT WAS HELD TOGETHER BY A STRONG IDEOLOGY AND CLOSE BONDS OF MUTUAL LOYALTY AMONG MEMBERS OF THE NOMENKLATURA. AS IN THE CASE OF OTHER PARTIES, THE IDEOLOGY EVAPORATED IN THE SEVENTIES. BUT UNLIKE THE OTHER PARTIES, IN WHICH FRATERNAL BONDS KEPT THE NOMENKLATURA TOGETHER, THE COMMUNIST PARTY BONDS IN ROMANIA DISSOLVED AS CEAUSESCU ESTABLISHED WHAT WAS IN EFFECT A BYZANTINE IMPERIAL COURT. THERE WERE NO LONGER ANY FRATERNAL BONDS. THERE WAS ONLY A DIRECT LINE OF LOYALTY FROM EACH INDIVIDUAL COURTIER TO CEAUSESCU. ANY OFFICIAL WHO CROSSED THE LEADER OR DISPLEASED HIM OR WAS DENOUNCED WAS DEMOTED, FIRED, OR JAILED.

9. GIVEN THE FOREGOING STATE OF AFFAIRS, CEAUSESCU\'S DEATH CAUSED THE ENTIRE SYSTEM TO SHATTER OVERNIGHT. THERE WAS NO COMMUNIST LEADERSHIP GROUP TO CLOSE RANKS, AS IN BULGARIA AFTER ZHIVKOV\'S OUSTER. CEAUSESCU\'S MINIONS HAD NO RELATIONSHIP TO EACH OTHER. THEY FELL BY THE WAYSIDE. WHAT THEN CAME TOGETHER WERE THE PEOPLE WHO HAD PREVIOUSLY BEEN OUSTED FROM PROMINENT POSITIONS, WHO THEN JOINED WITH MORE JUNIOR OFFICIALS IN AN EFFORT TO PUT TOGETHER A GOVERNMENT CAPABLE OF FUNCTIONING.

10. TO BE SURE, MOST OF THE NEW LEADERS WERE ONCE COMMUNISTS, WHETHER OF THE BELIEVING OR THE OPPORTUNIST VARIETY. CAN THEY BE TRUSTED NOW? I BELIEVE THEY CAN BECAUSE (A) THEIR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE HAS EMBITTERED THEM AGAINST TOTALITARIAN RULE (THEY USE THAT TERM|), AND (B) EVEN IF THEY ARE CYNICS (AND I AM SURE NONE OF THEM ARE), THEY KNOW WHICH WAY THE WIND IS BLOWING AND WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO TO GET THE FOREIGN HELP THEY NEED.

11. AS THE NSF APPEARS FOR THE TIME BEING TO BE THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN TO KEEP ROMANIA FUNCTIONING AND AS WE CAN BRING OUR INFLUENCE TO BEAR TO STEER THE FRONT IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, I STRONGLY CONCUR IN THE BUCHAREST EMBASSY\'S APPROACH AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

MATLOCK

PS. Cum am la dispozitie versiunea completa a telegramelor Wikileaks, voi publica in cele ce urmeaza toate telegramele care au de-a face cu Romania. Se primesc traduceri in limba romana din public.