Soviet Response to the Romanian Uprising
Annotation
In mid-December 1989, demonstrations erupted in Timisoara, quickly spread to other parts of Romania, and developed into a full-scale revolution, leading to the execution of President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife on December 25. On December 22, the Romanian ambassador in Moscow, Ion Bucur, sent this telegram to Ion Stoian, the minister of foreign affairs in Bucharest, Romania. As directed by the Soviet deputy foreign affairs minister, I. P. Aboimov, this correspondence included a response to accusations by the Romanian government regarding the Soviet position on the critical ongoing situation in Romania. The Soviet Union, as this document shows, was concerned about the stability in Romania, but was not planning to intervene. Unlike in the past, Soviet leaders decided to stand back while the historic events in Eastern Europe were unfolding.
Text
Telegram from the Romanian Embassy in Moscow
to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Bucharest)
22 December 1989, 04:20 pm
Cde. Ion Stoian, Minister of Foreign Affairs,
On 22 December 1989, at 02:00 pm I. P. Aboimov, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister,
called me at the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Accompanying me was I. Rîpan, [Embassy]
secretary. V. A. Lapsin, [Soviet MFA] secretary was also present.
Aboimov said that he was instructed to present, on behalf of the Soviet leadership, the
following reply to the message sent [by the Romanian government] through the Soviet
ambassador in Bucharest [during his discussion with Nicolae Ceausescu on 19 December].
“The message sent [by] the Romanian nation on 20 December of this year, has been
carefully examined in Moscow. We consider the problems raised in the message as very serious,15
since they are dealing with the basic issues of our collaboration.
In the spirit of sincerity, characteristic for our bilateral relations, we would like to
mention that we are surprised by its tone and the accusations regarding the position and role of
the Soviet Union with respect to the events taking place in Timisoara. We reject wholeheartedly
the statements with regard to the anti-Romanian campaign supposedly taking place in the Soviet
Union, not to mention the accusation that the actions against Romania have allegedly planned by
the Warsaw Treaty Organization [WTO]. Such accusations are unfounded and absolutely
unacceptable. Just as absurd are the declarations of certain Romanian officials who are suggesting
that the Soviet Union is preparing to intervene in Romania. We are starting, invariably, from the
idea that, in our relations with allied nations, as well as with all other nations, the principles of
sovereignty, independence, equality of rights, non-intervention in the internal affairs. These
principles have been once again confirmed during the [WTO] Political Consultative Committee
summit in Bucharest.
It is clear that the dramatic events taking place in Romania are your own internal
problem. The fact that during these events deaths have occured has aroused deep grief among the
Soviet public. The declaration adopted by the Congress of the People’s Deputies is also a
reflection of these sentiments.
Furthermore, I would like to inform you that our representative at the UN Security
Council has received instructions to vote against convening the Security Council for [the purpose
of] discussing the situation in Romania, as some countries have proposed. We consider that this
would be an infringement of the sovereignty of an independent state by an international
organization.
We want to hope that, in the resolution of the events in Romania, wisdom and realism
will prevail and that political avenues to solve the problems to the benefit of [our] friend, the
Romanian nation, will be found.
Our position comes out of our sincere desire not to introduce into our relationship
elements of suspicion or mistrust, out of our desire to continue our relations normally, in the
interest of both our nations, [and in the interest of] the cause of peace and socialism.
I. P. Aboimov asked that this message be sent immediately to Bucharest.
(ss) [Ambassador] Ion Bucur
[Source: Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs— Arhivele Ministerului Afacerilor Externe
(AMAE), Telegrame, Folder Moscow/1989, vol. 10, pp. 324 -325. Translated for CWIHP by
Mircea Munteanu]
Credits
Ion Bucur to Ion Stoian, telegram, 22 December 1989, trans. Mircea Munteanu, Cold War International History Project, Documents and Papers, CWIHP (accessed May 14, 2008).