A turning point in Romania's policy on the past

Up to now Romania has done little in terms of confronting its communist past. Markus Bauer reports that President Basescu has now set up a special commission to research the communist era. He was prompted to do this by the Council of Europe's official condemnation in April of communist crimes and by an appeal launched by journalist Sorin Iliesiu. In the appeal, Iliesiu called for "research leading to the official condemnation of the communist past. Within a very short time, more than 30 different organisations and many former dissidents and victims of communist persecution have joined in support of the political manifesto, which has triggered a surprisingly deep response from Romania's developing civil society."

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