Presidents of Romania

"There can be no justification to admit, in any way, the use of armed forced to intervene in the internal affairs of a WTO [Warsaw Treaty Organization] member country. The solving of domestic problems belongs exclusively to the Party and people of each country and any kind of interference can only do harm to the cause of socialism, friendship and collaboration among the socialist countries."

"We want to ensure a multilateral development of society, the thriving of all sides of social life, economy, science and culture, the improvement of management, the moulding of the new man and the promotion of socialist ethics and equity."

"It is a lie that I made the people starve. A lie, a lie in my face. This shows how little patriotism there is, how many treasonable offenses were committed.… At no point was there such an upswing, so much construction, so much consolidation in the Romanian provinces. I guaranteed that every village has its schools, hospitals and doctors. I have done everything to create a decent and rich life for the people in the country, like in no other country in the world."

"Our experience shows that today the West is commendably eager to encourage the slightest sign of independence within the Soviet bloc. Let's take advantage of their eagerness... We must make cleverness our national trait... Stop showing a sullen, frowning face and clenched fist to the West. Start making it feel compassion for us, and you'll see how fast Western boycotts change into magnanimity. Let's present Romania as a Latin island in the Slavic sea... Our millenia-old traditions of independence are now up against Moscow's political centrism... A pawn between two superpowers."

"Dialectical materialism works like cocaine, let's say. If you sniff it once or twice, it may not change your life. If you use it day after day, though, it will make you into an addict, a different man."

"Stealing from capitalism is not like stealing out of our own pockets. Marx and Lenin have taught us that anything is ethical, so long as it is in the interest of the proletarian class and its world revolution."

"Oil, Jews and Germans, are our most important export commodities."

"It's expensive to keep Communism alive today. I've already got a huge foreign debt staring me in the face, and I can't reduce it by exporting tomatoes or toilet paper. We should be making dollars any way we can. And we should be exporting arms any way and every way, openly and secretly, legally or by smuggling-I don't care how."

"Comrade Nicolae Ceaușescu, all children Are bringing you burning love from their souls, Because you, leading the Party and the people, Are teaching us to move forward. When we say Ceaușescu, we all know That we say liberty, truth and steadfastness. That's why we love you with ardor, With all that is heart in us and in Romania."

"The escalating pace of the change that seemed graspable was indicated by a slogan of the Velvet Revolution: ‘Poland – ten years, Hungary – ten months, German Democratic Republic – ten weeks, Czechoslovakia – ten days’. The public nature of the pressure for change was important as it could be captured by a domestic media no longer under state control, as well as by the international media. Scenes of East Germans travelling West were followed by those of the demolition of the Berlin Wall. In December 1989, in turn, they were succeeded by demonstrators in the capital Bucharest booing Nicolae Ceauşescu, the Romanian dictator, when he spoke in public. Abetted by the vicious Secret Police, he sought to resist reform by the use of force against demonstrators. However, Ceauşescu was overthrown after mass demonstrations. The army, which played a key role, providing force sufficient to overawe the Secret Police, was responsible for his execution on Christmas Day."

"Our goals are the same, to have a just system of economics and politics, to let the people of the world share in growth, in peace, in personal freedom, and in the benefits to be derived from the proper utilization of natural resources. We believe in enhancing human rights. We believe that we should enhance, as independent nations, the freedom of our own people."

"I would like to salute [Ceaușescu's] intransigent patriotism and ferocious will for independence. A veritable amity links me to him."

"The anti-Russian stance of one of Communism's most unpleasant dictators meant that Ceausescu was well regarded in the West, while he terrorized and impoverished the Romanian people. He rose through the ranks of the Party, then used an effective secret police to stay in power for decades until Communism collapsed around him and the Romanians revolted. He was executed after a summary trial, despite his claims of bringing great benefits to the country."

"As if Ceausescu and company are to bring down imperialism!! If the world waits for the Ceausescus to do such a thing, imperialism will live for tens of thousands of years..."

"My brother! You are my brother for the rest of my life!"

"Frequently I have heard criticism and even accusations directed against me for my policy towards the countries of Eastern Europe. Some say that Gorbachev did not defend socialism in those countries, that he more or less 'betrayed his friends'. Others, on the contrary, accuse me for having been too patient with Ceaușescu, Honecker, Zhivkov and Husák, who had brought their states to the brink of catastrophe. I firmly reject these accusations. They derive from outdated notions about the nature of relations between our countries. We had no right to interfere in the affairs of our 'satellites', to defend and preserve some and punish and 'excommunicate' others without reckoning with the people's will."

"Esteemed chairman of the court, today we have to pass a verdict on the defendants Nicolae Ceaușescu and Elena Ceaușescu who have committed the following offenses: Crimes against the people. They carried out acts that are incompatible with human dignity and social thinking; they acted in a despotic and criminal way; they destroyed the people whose leaders they claimed to be. Because of the crimes they committed against the people, I plead, on behalf of the victims of these two tyrants, for the death sentence for the two defendants."

"You need not admit your mistakes, mister. In 1947, we assumed power, but under completely different circumstances. In 1947, King Michael showed more dignity than you. And you might perhaps have achieved the understanding of the Romanian people if you had now admitted your guilt."

"He tells nothing but lies."

"The new kind of politicians lie all the time. But my father was one of the old kind, more of a fanatic. He was driven by some kind of fanaticism. This belief that you can do good. It's a sort of madness."

"And on December 17th the Romanian dictator Nicolai Ceausescu, desperate to preserve his own regime, ordered his army to follow the Chinese example and shoot down demonstrators in Timisoara. Ninety-seven were killed, but that only fueled the unrest, leading Ceausescu to call a mass rally of what he thought would be loyal supporters in Bucharest on December 21st. They turned out not to be, began jeering him, and before it could be cut off the official television transmission caught his deer-in-the-headlights astonishment as he failed to calm the crowd. Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, fled the city by helicopter but were quickly captured, put on trial, and executed by firing squad on Christmas Day. Twenty-one days earlier, Ceausescu had met with Gorbachev in the Kremlin. Recent events in Eastern Europe, he warned, had placed "in grave danger not just socialism in the respective countries but also the very existence of the communist parties there." "You seem concerned about this," Gorbachev responded, sounding more like a therapist than a Kremlin boss. "[T]ell me, what can we do?" Ceausescu suggested vaguely: "[W]e could have a meeting and discuss possible solutions." That would not be enough, Gorbachev replied: change was necessary; otherwise one might wind up having to solve problems "under the marching of boots." But the East European prime ministers would be meeting on January 9th. And then Gorbachev unwisely assured his anxious guest: "You shall be alive on the 9[th of] January.""

"He was a hard man who really wanted to win, all the time. He wanted to win at chess. It's well known that in chess when you touch a piece, you've got to move it. That's in the rules. But Ceausescu would touch a piece and see that it was a bad move and say, "No, no, wait, wait. I haven't thought long enough.""

"Gheorghiu-Dej put more people in prison, but he had a motive. Ceausescu had no motive to do what he did. Things were worse under the last ten years of Ceausescu. It was terrible what he did."

"Up to 1971, by Marxist standards, he was able to generate new ideas within the limits of the system. After his visit to China and North Korea in 1971, something of crucial importance must have happened in his mind. What he saw in North Korea was an image of real socialism- that is, total regimentation. Of course, everything was fundamentally wrong from the beginning. But the practical approaches until 1971 were mitigated by a degree of realism and independent thinking which had not yet become militant and destructive nationalism. I think that all his life he believed in what he considered to be the generous idea of socialism and Communism. But in 1971 he apparently discovered the uses of pyramidal organisation inherent in one-party rule. And he discovered the crucial importance of the top of the pyramid. He hated and despised Stalin who had enjoyed just such a position, but Ceausescu hated Stalin because he saw him as the leader of an Evil Empire. The evilness of it was its imperial character, not its ideology. Hence Ceausescu was blind to his own messianic bent."

"Most of the Communist Party leaders who ruled the countries of Eastern Europe on behalf of their Soviet masters in the decades after the Second World War were pliant stooges. Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania was different. Not only did he make a break with the USSR, but he promoted his own cult of personality as self-declared ‘Genius of the Carpathians’ and diverted his poverty-stricken country’s resources to vast monuments to his own glory while using his Securitate secret police to murder his enemies. He and his wife Elena ruled as a grotesque partnership. When the communist Eastern Bloc collapsed in 1989-90, they were the only two of the ousted leaders to be shot."

"In 1947 the Communists ousted their erstwhile allies from government, and in 1952 Dej became de facto dictator of Romania. With the elevation of his mentor, Ceausescu was able to secure his own position, and when Dej died in 1965, Ceausescu became party leader and head of state. Many Romanians hoped their new leader would inaugurate a period of greater liberalization and reform. In August 1968 such expectations intensified after Ceausescu’s denunciation of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, and his defiant line made him a genuinely popular figure within Romania, and earned plaudits from the West. Nevertheless, he was quick to assure the Soviets that his country would remain a loyal member of the Eastern Bloc. Early optimism started to dissipate as Ceausescu began to fantasize about turning Romania into a world industrial power house; and as he did so, prospects for liberalization receded. Instead, Ceausescu became obsessed with shoring up his monopoly of power, and to this end he introduced a process of continual job rotation by which functionaries at every level were ordered to change position regularly, with the intention that no one would be able to build up a power base to challenge him. The fact that the system also led to administrative chaos does not seem to have troubled Ceausescu, who in March 1974 assumed the ability to rule by decree alone. His wife Elena became increasingly powerful as vice-premier, politburo member and self-declared ‘Mother of the Nation’: the Ceausescus ruled as a gruesome partnership and stories of her greed, ruthlessness and vainglory abounded."

"Ceausescu determined to combine the values of socialism with an ever more strident Romanian nationalism. This resulted in an increasingly bizarre series of campaigns aimed at cementing Romania’s national greatness. In March 1984, for example, concerned at the country’s low birth rate, Ceausescu decreed that women of child-bearing age were required to have monthly gynaecological examinations under the watchful eye of the Securitate, and if they were not pregnant had to justify why not. By the 1980s, as the country faced a mounting debt crisis, Ceausescu resolved to pay off Romania’s creditors by the end of the decade. To achieve this he ordered the mass exportation of the country’s agricultural produce and industrial manufactures. The result was a collapse in the standard of living, and the deaths of thousands as a result of poor nutrition and lack of modern medical care. Ceausescu responded by introducing austerity measures such as the ‘Rational Eating Programme’, which set per capita limits on consumption. The long-suffering people of Romania were finally released from the tyrant’s grip when the popular revolutions of 1989 brought the totalitarian regimes of Eastern Europe crashing down. The fall of the ‘Genius of the Carpathians’ proved to be bloody: after a summary trial, on Christmas Day 1989 he and his wife Elena were executed by firing squad as he sang the ‘Internationale’ and she shouted “You motherf-1s!’"

"Tito did not like Ceaușescu personally, because when they went hunting wild boars together, Ceaușescu cheated and broke the rules. He once took a shot at a boar, and having missed it, fired at it a second time after the boar had moved out of Ceaușescu's and into Tito's field of fire. Tito then killed the boar with his first shot, but Ceaușescu falsely claimed that he too had hit the boar with his shot. 'In that case, your shot must have gone up the hole under the boar's tail,' said Tito sarcastically. When they went hunting together again a few year later, Ceaușescu again claimed to have killed a boar when it was in fact Tito who had shot it."

"Ceausescu vaunted Romania as the reincarnation of the Roman Empire’s province of Dacia, and archaeologists searched for continuities with ancient culture. He endlessly goaded the Soviet Politburo and put himself forward as the nation’s greatest ever protector. He aimed at economic autarky for Romania. This tin-pot dictator was treated as a hero in the struggle against the USSR. He received the Order of the Bath from Queen Elizabeth II on the recommendation of Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan. Liberal Party leader David Steel sent him a Labrador puppy. Nicolae’s wife Elena strutted the world in her self-appointed role as a world-class chemist; and her penchant for clothes and shoes rivalled the record of Imelda Marcos in quantity and tastelessness. The Ceausescus, man and wife, planned a luxurious life in the People’s Palace which was being built in Bucharest’s old quarter after twenty-six churches and seven thousand homes had been demolished. The Pentagon in Washington is the only edifice with a larger cubic capacity. Yet while the Palace sparkled with 4,500 chandeliers, ordinary Romanians had to put up with regular cuts in electricity supply. It was modern communism with medieval appurtenances."

"Like Alia, Nicolae Ceausescu spat on all talk of reform in Romania. He took one of his regular opportunities to strut before an adoring multitude on 21 December when he appeared on the balcony of his grandiose Central Committee premises in Bucharest. The crowd had been filtered through the usual mechanisms. The police were on guard as was customary. Ceausescu, flanked by wife and close aides, strode forward to address the usually subservient ‘masses’. Barely had he begun to speak than grumbling voices were heard. The Conduc tor, as he styled himself in a manner uncomfortably reminiscent of fascist dictators, was unaccustomed to this. On instinct he harangued his critics. The crowd turned surly. It was like a scene from a clichéd film ‘epic’ about ancient Rome. (This was fitting since Ceausescu had always tried to identify himself with the greatness of the Roman Empire.) People muttered, advanced, shouted and raised their fists. The security forces refrained from trying to restore order. Ceausescu suddenly understood the danger he was in. He scuffled in panic from the scene, took a helicopter to the countryside and briefly attempted to rally support. No one came to his aid. Leading communists were among those who stepped forward to announce the collapse – the most sudden and glorious collapse in a half-year of such collapses – of communist power. There was no mercy for the Ceausescu couple. The new authorities did not want them alive and able to tell the story of the part played by their successors in the maintenance of communism before 1989. They were shot on 25 December."

"Nicolae Ceaușescu aveva fama di eretico, ma era diversissimo da Tito. Era il più staliniano dei tiranni comunisti balcanici. Umili origini. In sintonia con le radici della sua terra, l'Oltenia, landa di foreste oscure e di atrocità ottomane."

"Nicolae Ceaușescu had the fame of a heretic, but he was very different from Tito. He was the most Stalinist of the Balkan Communist tyrants, in tune with the past of his homeland, Oltenia, a land of dark forests and Ottoman atrocities."

"Through my actions, the ones of the parliamentary opposition and through the citizens’ mobilization, Romania succeeded in preserving its pro-European and democratic course and this seems to me the most important achievement of my term."

"I am very proud of my country, and the two main priorities of my mandate addressed precisely these concerns. The first, to uphold the fight against corruption, to strengthen the rule of law and to preserve the independence of the judiciary. The second, to consolidate Romania’s role within the European Union and to represent our country in the European institutions with dignity. Close to the end of my term now, I can say I have succeeded in fulfilling both of these priorities."

"We have advanced the European Agenda in an inclusive manner, with Romania acting as an honest broker and succeeding to achieve impressive results."

"Since the beginning of my term, my vision for Romania was to build a strong and prosperous country, where the projects we have started are finalized, where the law is the same for everyone, and where people are appreciated and fairly paid for their work. Romanians want the same things as the Germans or any other European citizens do: to live a prosperous and safe life in a country able to provide all the necessary premises to build a good future for themselves and for their children."

"Thirty years after the fall of communism, the democratic and European option is stronger than ever in Romania."

"What the European Union does, from my perspective, is well done and it helps everyone. But as it happens in politics, good news are not news and we do not talk about these aspects."

"For me, people have always been more important than money. This is why I stressed this principle in my approaches towards the media, but also in the European Council. In some areas we feel the tendency to leave people behind and handle trade our industrial issues."

"We serve our people when working with the United Nations, and each and every citizen needs to see a concrete impact on his or her daily life, and a positive change."

"We have to explain that we face serious threats to security, that terrorism needs a globally coordinated response, that proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery remain existential threats to global security."

"We also need an integrated and innovative approach to respond simultaneously to a whole range of inter-related challenges, such as health, demographic changes, migration, scarce resources, climate change and biodiversity loss, extreme poverty and hunger."

"Recently we have also witnessed the potential and the challenges of digital technologies. We must ensure meaningful and safe access to the Internet, strengthen cybersecurity and promote responsible behavior in the cyberspace, while addressing the digital spread of hatred and disinformation."

"The concept of resilience is an important component of our security, as well as a key factor in protecting democracy."

"Last, but not least, let me remind us that an international organization is as strong as the political willingness of its member States to make it relevant and fit for the times we are living in. Let us all join efforts to achieve the United Nations’ noble goals!"

"History has shown us time and again that the spirit of our nation cannot be defeated. Those who now want to divide us and return us to a dark past, which no Romanian wants anymore, will not succeed. And they will not succeed because our strength lies precisely in our unity and in our common belief in freedom and democracy."

"Therefore, I urge you that in the new year we regain our confidence and not lose hope for a moment that, together, we can keep Romania on its pro-Western path, guided by the fundamental principles and values ​​that define us – justice, freedom and democracy, for which our fellow citizens have paid the ultimate price."

"The structure of the international system, at the end of this century, is experiencing radical changes, particularly the end of the post-war bipolarity, the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the cold war. Many new peoples have gained their right to self-determination and democratic development, long repressed by totalitarian regimes."

"The dynamics of the world have changed. This creates many questions for the international community, governments, politicians and political forces. So far the answers have been few and inadequate. But life does not wait. States and people have concrete needs as well as hopes and ideals. Their natural tendency is to act in order to fulfil them, whether or not there exists an organized international framework for harmonizing divergent interests."

"But freeing international relations from ideology does not and must not necessarily lead to confrontation between civilizations. By definition, confrontation is alien to civilization."

"Civilization is characterized, rather, by tolerance and open-mindedness. Of course, this does not exclude competition between civilizations, between the values they promote, between their capacities to guarantee the free enjoyment of basic human rights and the development of initiative and the human personality."

"The extremely complex situations in various parts of the world and the contradictory currents that exist, with all their attendant risks and uncertainties for overall peace and security, demand a democratic vision of the new international order, which must be built, and abandonment of prejudices in relations between States inherited from the cold-war period. But that is not all. I believe that today we need a vision of the management of international relations in which realism and pragmatism predominate."

"The prosperity of peoples achieved through cooperation was not merely the formula of someday dreamers, but the rationale behind an international body meant to constitute an orderly space for moral and legal values to govern the manifestation of the freedom of creation of human civilization in all its diversity."

"International order based on legal norms, even if administered under the authority of the privileged club of the permanent members of the Security Council, represented the embodiment of reason and of the hope that the world would never again fall prey to the demons of hatred and destruction."

"The knowledge gap is compounded by the ubiquitous phenomenon of brain drain from the developing to the developed world. The problem is almost as old as the United Nations itself."

"Experience shows that enhanced regional cooperation can be both the engine and the result of globalization."

"Regional cooperation makes it possible to capitalize on the advantages of globalization while reducing its risks."

"A set of policies can be successful only if it relies consistently on the fundamental aspiration of ordinary people to a peaceful and decent life. The current unprecedented level of knowledge will, I am confident, enable us to find the requisite resources, both in ourselves and in society, for greater tolerance, mutual respect and constructive dialogue, as opposed to the primitive inclination to hatred and intolerance."

"The consolidation of democratic values, building an efficient and competitive market economy, strengthening the country's capacity to play its role as a security and stability provider in the region, are all aims closely interrelated with our national interest."

"Fraud involving the public purse is all the more reprehensible, and must be severely punished, in that it cannot take place other than with the involvement of politicians and public officials, i.e. those who are entrusted essentially with defending and promoting the public interest. Their dishonesty undermines trust in the State, in the country's institutions and in democracy."

"It is our duty, the duty of all of us, to help the people understand that, alongside rights and freedoms, they have legal and constitutional obligations, that it is in their interests and in the interests of society that fraudulent acts should be severely punished, and that they should not become accomplices, including as a result of passivity or non-involvement, in such anti-social behaviour."

"Transparency is nowadays an efficient weapon in stamping out corruption and fraud of any kind involving public funds."

"The global vocation and aspirations of my country are closely related to its European destiny. The focus of Romanian diplomacy is therefore oriented towards the democratic stabilization of our neighbouring region and its effective connection to a united Europe."

"Granting the Western Balkan states a clear perspective of integration into the Euro-Atlantic and European community is the most effective way to consolidate stability and security in the region and in Europe."

"Having emerged from the darkness of totalitarianism, Romania has embarked on a long and not so easy road to the recovery of memory and assumption of responsibility, in keeping with the moral and political values grounding its new status as a democratic country, a dignified member of the Euro-Atlantic community."

"A critical evaluation of the past is always necessary, so as not to forget it, but also to set with clarity the landmarks of our effort to build ourselves, as part of constructing the future of our nation."

"The recent past obligates us to create mechanisms and institutions designed to serve as the society’s antibodies against these illnesses of the spirit that are racism, antisemitism, xenophobia."

"For the citizens of Romania, communism was a regime imposed by a political group self-designated as possessor of the truth, a totalitarian regime born through violence and ended through violence. It was a regime of oppression, which expropriated five decades of modern history from the Romanian people, which trampled law underfoot and forced citizens to live in lies and fear."

"A democracy without memory is one that finds itself in grave suffering. We must not forget, in order to avoid the errors of the past."

"Imported from the USSR, the communist ideology justified the assault against civil society, against political and economic pluralism; it justified the annihilation of the democratic parties, the destruction of the free market, extermination by assassination, deportations, forced labor, and the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of people. Behind the mask of "socialist humanism" lay concealed the most profound contempt for human beings as individuals."

"When we attempt to expose the mechanisms of the totalitarian regime, it is the case not to forget that its architects and beneficiaries demonstrated no form of scruple or remorse."

"Evoking now a period which many would wish to forget, we have spoken both of the past and of the extent to which we, people today, wish to go to the very end in the assumption of the values of liberty. These values, prior even to being those of Romania or of Europe, flow from the universal, sacred value of the human person. If we now turn to the past, we do so in order to face a future in which contempt for the individual will no longer go unpunished."

"I myself have often criticized the imperfections of our political system, the inefficiency of certain institutions. But it is not the institutions of the state that are guilty, but the manner in which we make them work, the manner in which many think they should utilize them for the achievement of their own interests."

"The lesson of the past proves that any regime that humiliates citizens cannot last and does not deserve to exist. Now, all citizens can freely demand that their inalienable rights should be respected, and the institutions of the state must work in such a way that people will no longer feel humiliated. During this period of transition, much has been said about the moral crisis of society. It relates to numerous aspects of daily life. I am certain that we shall leave behind the state of social mistrust and pessimism in which we have been submerged by the years of transition if, together, we undertake a genuine examination of the national conscience."

"I do not want to become "the President who condemned communism". I want only to be the head of a state which considers that this condemnation relates to normality, that, without this condemnation, we shall move forward with difficulty, we shall move forward while continuing to carry on our back the corpse of our own past. All that I want is for us to build the future of democracy in Romania and the national identity upon clean ground."

"It is true that, during a political debate or sports event inadequate language occurs. Beyond that, I assure you that the Romanian people have a long tradition of common sense and respect for diversity."

"We have the permanent duty to react, using all the political and institutional tools at our disposal, for combating the expression of intolerance and discrimination, in any form. We have the democratic obligation to act so that every citizen feels that he is protected by law therefore having the proof of the solidarity of his fellow citizens. Democracy is the only political regime where diversity can truly be respected, for the common benefit."

"The education has the main vocation of conveying, through moral and pedagogic instruments, a message of accountability for the lessons of the past, and knowing the history, the traditions and the culture of the ethnic groups living in our country is the first step towards a progress in good understanding and cohabitation."

"If we are complacent, we might awake all the demons that have troubled the life of Europe: racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism can spread like a fire, whenever the vigilance of governments and civil society decreases."

"We carne for we believe the decisions we are bound to take will prove that global political creation and structural transformation can be effected successfully in times of peace, and not only against the backdrop of prevailing violence; we can unite around the dividends and promises of peace, and not only in solidarity against the evil, the unjust, or the war. We came because we believe in the United Nations."

"In this global quest, we cannot overlook activities such as the illicit trafficking in human beings, arms, drugs and counterfeited goods, which can also fuel significant resources to terrorist networks and keep regional conflicts open. In many parts of the world, including in Romania's neighborhood, this is far from being a myth."

"Romania has taken for some time now the view that protection against security threats is not anymore just about taking a stand at one's own border; we have to go where these challenges originate and take them up with resolute action and sustained investments."

"Romania stands as a catalyst for cooperation in her region, and is keen to bring up this experience at the international level."

"My country's particular experience in Southeastern Europe and the wider Black Sea area reveals that meaningful cooperation between the U.N. and regional organizations is decisive both on conflict management, and in handling responses to transnational non-conventional threats."

"Our ultimate aim should be to see the day when the international community is able to deal with each and every security challenge anywhere, anytime, by better pooling together existing resources and capabilities for responding to unlawful violence."

"Six decades after the U.N. was created as a bulwark against abuse and terror, basic human rights and liberties are still baffled around the world as a not so uncommon occurrence. Many regimes still get the shivers at the mere utterance of the word "democracy"."

"We leave behind a huge political investment of trust and hope on behalf of our people. It would all however have been in vain unless we will show positive political will in making these constructs come to life. We need to strengthen our common universal frame, and we all also need it to work better with regional and national levels in a consistent matrix of subsidiarity and complementarity."

"Everybody is talking about war. But it is now to talk about peace and reconstruction. It is not an easy task. However, it is necessary and possible."

"Thanks to its own forces, loyal to democracy and dialogue, Romania has succeeded to surmount them for good. What democracy achieved for Romania, democracy will succeed for the whole of Southeastern Europe."

"Victory means first and foremost security. Only the consolidation of NATO's Southern flank, through the soonest extension of an invitation for Romania, Slovenia and Bulgaria to become full members of the Alliance, can assure it in the long term. It is safer for NATO, and safer for the whole region, to have the Alliance firmly implanted in the region. For our countries, which assumed the same risks of any member state, without the guarantees and benefits of actual membership, a deadline after 2002 seems an unfair and remote prospective."

"Economic incentives to the stable zones neighbouring the conflict-torn area is an emergency, as well as the foremost political instrument for maintaining zonal equilibirum and persuading, all the countries in the region of the positive model's validity."

"Within the debates on the security assessment and planning logics, two theoretical approaches have emerged. According to the first one, which is also the oldest, the world is unipolar, due to the USA super-power, which have invested during the last ten years double the amount of the military budgets of all the other states in scientific and technological research for military purposes. The world can be defined as unipolar also from the point of view of the western liberal democracy model that assures economic development and prosperity."

"On the future, the European and world security, as well as each state security should adapt to the postmodern society. The states will probably remain for a long time from now on not only the security subjects, but also its guarantees. Meanwhile we are also forced to take into account the fact that the postmodern world created solidarities of racial, ethical, sexual groups that transcend the states. Thus, we should not see the state security only as a goal, but also as a way to assure the security for different groups and for citizens seen as persons with own interests and options."

"The world economic crisis led to a positive reassessment of the state role as protector of the citizens against abuses coming from those who assured the 20th century states progress and prosperity: transnational economic and financial companies. A partnership between the private sector and the civil society promoting the corporate social responsibility may create the trust necessary to overcome present and future crises."

"In our contemporary world, states can no longer be conventionally divided in blocks because the reactions following different interests lead to changing the alliances and the opposite parts on different topics or subjects. On one hand, it is a reflex of the contemporary world democratization, but also of the governments’ pragmatism forced to respond to the needs of their own citizens."

"Problems of the transition towards democracy, along with the separatism and the delay in consolidating the new independent states create, on their turn; risks directly connected to the states and governments political legitimacy. The mafia type cores nourishing separatism and blocking the new states consolidation put a question mark on the capability of fighting the institutionalized corruption. A threat associated to the democracy global model is the populism. Populism can lead to weakening the power and efficiency of the key democratic institutions, of the independency of justice, mass media and army. The elements along with the existing old frozen conflicts arouse concerns both about the dividing tendencies within the new independent states, but also about the terrorist elements transit to Europe as well as about maintaining the backward mentalities generating attractiveness towards authoritarian administrative models."

"Conflict prevention and post-conflict situations management require a more comprehensive perspective that will allow the development of the global or regional institutions complementarity. A balanced vision should take into account the interests of different ethnical and religious communities, the states obligations and their citizens’ natural rights, the conjunctural and long-term interests of the regional actors. It cannot be elaborated without involving representatives competent to express the voices plurality, questions and aspirations from billions of people. Political structures should be supplemented by civil society structures dedicated to world security issues. Only such a process to consolidate the respect for human, democracy and common security may reach the depth that only peoples’ real will can guarantee."

"Cultural diplomacy can work as a laboratory where is created the global security political culture through mutual trust, negotiation and cooperation. It can identify the major risks, can conceive and apply programs of mutual trust enhancement, both within countries with a high-risk degree, but also within conflict potential regions. Within this laboratory, I believe that exists a privileged place for the former presidents in term during the transition from the communist dictatorships to the democratic states status. Their civic and reformer political leaders experience, their mutual relationships and the prestige they have gained can play a role both in conflict defusing, but also in reconceiving long-term strategies."

"The important contribution of the preventive cultural diplomacy to the security architecture in Europe and in the entire world will be, with no doubt, the one of wars that would have not taken place due to creating a few democratic dialogue mechanisms and to strengthening of the collaboration with the civil society."

"We use to say that diplomacy was invented when our ancestors decided that it was more interesting to hear the messenger than to eat the messenger. Time runs faster and faster in the new century. That does not mean we must rush ahead without thinking. Our past is shaping our future, if we accept it or not; let’s try and make the best use of it."

"Globalization has opened a market without borders in education. However, we must go immediately to the statutory changes and constituent reforms in education. If mobility is a canopy of trees and their roots are a network of domestic and transnational institutions tree trunk must consist of new strategic organization of knowledge. Globalization has offered communications infrastructure, in which space and time lost their meaning. The dual role of education and labor should operate based on two concepts: education and lifelong subject diversity. A subject diversity hasn’t got freedom from the tyranny of the caste spirit disciplines and research institutes. The decision could have an offer for the younger generation that would not allow him to choose between names of subjects, but between occupations, professions offering horizon, where objects are replaced by a format that allows you choose their own route, which would have created an individual biography. In this format teachers should become guardians or examples rather than just carriers of knowledge. You must create a system of education and research field of new playing fields and new players. Managers must manage interaction. Organizational areas have changed in the context in which the battle for talent management becomes a science."

"A world without borders in education requires, as I said, rethinking the role of institutions. It is necessary to prepare graduates with global competence, which would be able to act based on religious, technological, cultural and environmental features. We should not forget that globalization is caused by problems. Global problems require global answers."

"Mankind has just reached a point in its history that is not only critical, but full of hope. After the tragic experiences humanity underwent on a global scale during this past century, we are seeing the birth, for the first time in history, of a universal culture of peace."

"The laws that govern our States are based on the presumption of innocence. Along the same lines, we need to adopt a common code of conduct for cultures and peoples based on a presumption of goodwill. Romania also has profound respect for United Nations action aimed at avoiding, or at least restricting, armed conflict and at guaranteeing dignity and fundamental rights for every human being."

"In shedding the constraints of communist dictatorship, together with a deepening of the globalization process, our countries have suddenly become vulnerable. The speed with which criminal organizations have set out to conquer new territories is in stark contrast to the necessarily slower rhythm of institutional development. Still fragile, the protection which the rule of law can offer from the perverse and toxic globalization of organized crime remains inadequate and legislation deficient, while civil society continues to react timidly."

"The security, prosperity and peace that we imagine to be the pillars of the twenty-first century will, in fact, be achievable only if we are able to act now in order to clear the path. We are convinced that the documents which we are to adopt at the end of this session will establish an appropriate framework in that direction."

"We now have, on the eve of the new millennium, the opportunity to establish a global policy and an unprecedented kind of human communication that will open the way to a future that we will be able to build freely and unhindered. This goal is at hand, if only we join forces."