Romania’s first democratic leader with a divisive legacy

Ion Iliescu, a figure whose name is intertwined with the tumultuous birth of modern Romania, has died at the age of 95.

A career politician who shaped the country’s transition from communism to democracy, he was both a beacon of hope and a deeply divisive presence in Romanian politics.

His death on 5 August marks the end of a life spent at the heart of some of Romania’s most dramatic and contentious moments.

“To understand Iliescu, you must grasp the complexity of Romania’s 1990s,” says political analyst Teodor Tita.

“He was neither a simple hero, nor a straightforward villain. He embodied the contradictions of a country struggling to reinvent itself while haunted by its past.”

Iliescu rose to prominence amid the chaos of the December 1989 revolution, when decades of Nicolae Ceausescu’s oppressive rule came to an abrupt and violent end.

Initially hailed as the man who would lead Romania into a new democratic era, Iliescu’s legacy soon became more complicated.

His leadership steered the nation through its fragile early years of democracy and towards eventual integration with Nato and the European Union, achievements that many credit to his steady hand.

Yet, as Teodor Tita explains: “His presidency was also marked by moments that still scar Romania’s collective memory – the suppression of protests in 1990, the violent Mineriads, and his apparent reluctance to fully break with the old communist structures. These events have left a shadow that lingers.”

Born on 3 March 1930 in the Danube town of Oltenita, Iliescu studied engineering in Moscow, Russia, during the Stalin era, where he became active in Romanian student political circles.

His time in the Soviet Union would later fuel speculation – never proven – that he had ties with high-ranking communist figures, including Mikhail Gorbachev.

After returning to Romania, Iliescu rose rapidly within the Communist Party, holding positions in propaganda and youth policy.

But his reformist leanings eventually made him a target for Ceausescu, who marginalised him from the party’s upper ranks. By the 1980s, Iliescu was out of politics and working as a director at a government-affiliated academic publishing house.

His re-emergence during the 1989 revolution, which lasted from 16-25 December and saw more than 1,000 people killed, was seen by some as opportunistic, but to others, it was a stabilising presence amid chaos.

As leader of the National Salvation Front (FSN), a political organisation that formed during the revolution, Iliescu became Romania’s interim president and oversaw the rapid dismantling of Ceausescu’s regime.

On Christmas Day, Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife were executed by firing squad after a trial at a military base that lasted two hours.

In 1990, he won Romania’s first democratic election in more than 50 years with a staggering 85% of the vote. But the campaign was marred by disinformation and state-aligned propaganda against liberal rivals.

Later that year, Iliescu faced growing protests from students and opposition supporters. His now-infamous call for miners to descend on the capital to “restore order” led to days of brutal street violence known as the Mineriads, during which dozens were injured and several killed.

He served another full term after winning the 1992 elections, then returned for a final presidency between 2000 and 2004.

Turbulent years followed the revolution. Deep-rooted and insidious influential figures, dating back to the communist era persisted, and Iliescu’s presidency was marked by widespread corruption.

Critics argue that his reluctance to fully reform the justice system or confront the legacy of the Securitate – the feared secret police – allowed a culture of impunity to take root.

More than three decades on from the revolution, Romania still struggles with political corruption and remains one of the poorest and most corrupt members of the European Union – a reality that some trace back to Iliescu’s rule.

His later years in office saw progress on Romania’s Western integration – including Nato membership and the closing of EU accession talks. There were also market reforms, allowing small businesses to open, and Romania adopted its first democratic constitution in 1991, which still shapes the country today.

But Iliescu remained dogged by questions over his role in the bloodshed of the early 1990s.

In 2017, he was formally indicted for crimes against humanity in connection with both the 1989 revolution and the 1990 Mineriads. The legal proceedings dragged on for years without resolution.

After stepping down, Iliescu remained a respected figure within the Social Democratic Party (PSD), eventually being named honorary president.

He largely withdrew from public life in his later years but occasionally posted political commentary on his personal blog. His final entry, in May 2025, congratulated President Nicusor Dan on his electoral victory.

Ion Iliescu built Romania’s democracy, Teodor Tita says, but he was “also a ruthless politician who wasn’t afraid to incite violent conflicts between competing parts of the society”.

“As a politician, Iliescu was ruthless, skilful and always with an eye to history.”