Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

officially established diplomatic relations on 14 February 1992. Currently, Belarus has an

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, while Romania has an embassy in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

History

Romanian President The president of Romania () is the head of state of Romania. The president is directly elected by a two-round system, and, following a modification to the Romanian Constitution in 2003, serves for five years. An individual may serve two ter ...

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...

visited

both in July 1992 and March 1994, while Chairman

Stanislav Shushkevich Stanislav Stanislavovich Shushkevich (15 December 1934 – 3 May 2022) was a Belarusian politician and scientist who served as the first head of state of independent Belarus after it seceded from the Soviet Union, serving as the first chairman ...

of Belarus visited

in May 1993 and April 1994. Belarusian businessman Pavel Topuzidis is the honorary consul of Romania in Belarus.

2020 Belarusian protests

In 2020,

protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

against the outcome of the presidential elections of 9 August 2020 occurred. Two days later, the

Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs () is the ministry responsible for external affairs of the Government of Romania, Romanian Government. The current foreign minister is Emil Hurezeanu. List of ministers of foreign affairs (1862–1989) ...

Bogdan Aurescu Bogdan Lucian Aurescu (born 9 September 1973) is a Romanian judge of the International Court of Justice. Prior to his swearing-in on 6 February 2024, Aurescu was a diplomat, law professor and politician, who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs ...

said he was "very concerned" about the situation of the country and that the "only way" was to stop the violence and start a political dialogue. He also urged the country to respect fundamental human rights.

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

, the president elected in the controversial 2020 elections, has been compared to the Romanian

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

leader

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

. The latter suffered a

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

against him in 1989, which ended with his capture and

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

. Some have said that Lukashenko could end in the same way as him. On August 14, three youth and student organizations condemned the

Belarusian government The politics of Belarus takes place in a framework of a presidential republic with a bicameral parliament. The President of Belarus is the head of state. Executive power is nominally exercised by the government, at its top sits a ceremonial pr ...

for manipulating the elections and using violence. They urged Aurescu to defend the rights of

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.sanctions". The three organizations were among the first in

to state their opinion on the matter. On 16 August, dozens of Romanians protested in front of the Belarusian

. They carried banners expressing their solidarity with the protestants, criticized the repression of the protests and expressed their desire for the elections to be repeated. At the beginning of the incident, most Romanian

politicians A politician is a person who participates in policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles or duties tha ...

or government officials said nothing, usually waiting for statements from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

instead of reacting individually. An exception was the

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Save Romania Union The Save Romania Union (, USR) is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in Romania, political party in Romania. It is the fourth-largest party in the Parliament of Romania, holding 40 seats in the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber ...

(USR), whose MPs proposed a joint statement by the two houses of the

Romanian Parliament The Parliament of Romania () is the national bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, the capital. Prior to the modification of the Cons ...

on the situation in Belarus. The president of the USR,

Dan Barna Dan Barna (born 10 July 1975) is a Romanian politician and lawyer. He served as the president of the Save Romania Union (USR), and as co-president of USR PLUS, USR-PLUS until 1 October 2021. He was elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies (Rom ...

, described Lukashenko as "a Ceaușescu lookalike, who will eventually be removed from power". Furthermore, leaders of several

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

political parties, under the initiative of the Romanian politician

Dacian Cioloș Dacian Julien Cioloș (; born 27 July 1969) is a Romanian Agronomy, agronomist who served as Prime Minister of Romania from November 2015 to January 2017. He previously served as Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Rural Development (Romania), A ...

, called on 17 August for a repeat of the Belarusian elections.

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

was also asked to "refrain from any intervention". In 19 August, the

Klaus Iohannis Klaus Werner Iohannis (; ; born 13 June 1959) is a Romanian politician, physicist, and former teacher who served as the fifth president of Romania from 2014 until his resignation in 2025. Prior to entering Politics of Romania, national politics, ...

said that the European Union should take measures against the situation in Belarus, including sanctions against those involved in the use of violence against protesters and in the

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

. He also called for the release of the persons that were illegally detained. On the same day, the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

of the European Union (of which Romania is a member) declared that the 2020 elections were not fair or free and rejected its results. In 24 August, an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

was sent to Aurescu and Iohannis, as well as to the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Ludovic Orban Ludovic Orban (; born 25 May 1963) is a Romanian engineer and politician who was the prime minister of Romania from November 2019 to December 2020. He was president of the National Liberal Party (PNL) between 2017 and 2021, which expelled him sh ...

, to support civil society and

human rights in Belarus The government of Belarus is criticized for human rights violations and persecution of non-governmental organisations, independent journalists, national minorities, and opposition politicians. In a testimony to the United States Senate Commi ...

. They compared the protests to the Romanian Revolution in 1989 and the Romanian protests of 2017–2019. Methods of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

committed in 1989 in Romania were also compared with those committed in 2020 in Belarus. The letter called on the

Romanian government The Government of Romania () forms one half of the executive branch of the government of Romania (the other half being the office of the President of Romania). It is headed by the Prime Minister of Romania, and consists of the ministries, variou ...

to take a firm position in favor of the rights of the

Belarusian people Belarusians ( ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Belarus. They natively speak Belarusian, an East Slavic language. More than 9 million people proclaim Belarusian ethnicity worldwide. Nearly 7.99 million Belarusians reside ...

, free elections, an end to torture and others. At the end of the letter, it urges the recipients to open communication channels with

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya Sviatlana Hieorhiyeuna Tsikhanouskaya (; born 11 September 1982) is a Belarusian political activist. After standing as a candidate in the 2020 presidential election against the president Alexander Lukashenko, she has led the political opposit ...

and the Coordination Council, to declare that Lukashenko is not recognized as president, to set a deadline for transfer of power to Tsikhanouskaya and to break

diplomatic relations Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of state, intergovernmental, or non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern Diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

with Belarus in case Lukashenko does not cease the violent repression. The letter was signed by more than 200 political or cultural figures of Romania, including former Foreign Minister Andrei Plesu, writer

Ana Blandiana Ana Blandiana (; pen name of Otilia Valeria Coman; born 25 March 1942) is a Romanian poet, essayist, and political figure. She took her name after Blandiana, near Vințu de Jos, Alba County, her mother's home village. In October 2017, she was ...

, directors

Cristian Mungiu Cristian Mungiu (; born 27 April 1968) is a Romanian filmmaker. He won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival for his film '' 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days'', which he wrote and directed. He has also won the awards for Best Screenplay and ...

and

Adina Pintilie Adina Pintilie (born 12 January 1980, with the birth name Adina-Elena Pintilie) is a Romanian film director and screenwriter. She is known for her raw material work. Her decade-long creative multi-platform study on intimacy, current body politic ...

and the former political prisoner

Radu Filipescu Radu Filipescu (born December 26, 1955cpcadcr.presidency.ro/upload/Radu_Filipescu.pdf) is a former Romanian anti-Communist dissident. During Nicolae Ceaușescu's regime, Filipescu was imprisoned for several years for "propaganda against the soci ...

. On 26 August, Aurescu announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was preparing to allocate 100,000

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s to support Belarusian civil society and

independent media Independent media refers to any media (communication), media, such as television, newspapers, or Internet-based publications free of influence by government or corporate interests. The term has varied applications. Independence stands as a corne ...

. The next day, he said before an informal European Union meeting that Romania is "very concerned" about the situation in Belarus and the abuses against protesters and the opposition and that the country supports "a full list of sanctions" against various Belarusian officials. On 2 September, the

Senate of Romania 2012–2016 2008–2012 In December 2008, the Democratic Liberal Party (Romania), Democratic Liberal Party (PDL) and the Alliance PSD+PC, political alliance established between the Social Democratic Party of Romania, Social Democratic Party ...

unanimously Unanimity is agreement by all people in a given situation. Groups may consider unanimous decisions as a sign of social, political or procedural agreement, solidarity, and unity. Unanimity may be assumed explicitly after a unanimous vote or impli ...

approved, after 124 votes in favor, to make a declaration regarding the violation of fundamental human rights in Belarus. The Romanian Parliament expressed solidarity with the Belarusian population, called for an end to violence to give place to peaceful protests and said that it believed that a "more articulate reaction" from the international community will be necessary in case the situation is not resolved. On 4 September, Aurescu confirmed that Romania would continue to call for an end to violence, for the beginning of a political dialogue and for respect of the human rights of the Belarusians. He also reiterated the intention to contribute 100,000 euros to Belarusian civil society and independent journalism and rejected the accusations of interference in the internal affairs of the country. On 9 September, PEN Romania, together with other international

PEN PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

centers, signed a document calling for the release of political prisoners from Belarus. It also criticized Lukasenko's repressive policies. Furthermore, on the same day, several diplomats from the European Union stayed at the home of the Belarusian writer

Svetlana Alexievich Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich (born 31 May 1948) is a Belarusian investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to s ...

, who is a member of the Coordination Council, to avoid her arrest. Among the diplomats were representatives from Romania, as well as

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belarus-Romania relations

History

2020 Belarusian protests

See also

References