Five questions by Bogdan Ficeac
Romania Libera, Iulie 30, 1998

At the end of the visit made in July in the United States, President Emil Constantinescu had a meeting with the Romanian community from Chicago and surroundings. It was a touching meeting, with the national anthem performed by the band, with the quire of the Romanian churches from Illinois singing together with the audience "Pe-al nostru steag e scris unire", with speeches from the heart in which the feeling of national identity reached beyond geographic barriers. The newspapers of those days wrote about all these. Much less was written about the five "questions of general interest" prepared in advance to be addressed to the president and printed in the welcoming brochure) distributed to all those present. I bring up this issue as these questions, although ruminated on by the Romanian community in Chicago, reflect serious matters, which torments today's Romanian society.

The first question entitled "about property" starts with a preamble in which is stated that "property is the foundation of a prosperous and democratic society". Yet, the constitution of Romania only "protects" the private property but does not guarantee it. Afterwards their promise to reinstate the private property in its natural rights is reminded both to the President and the Democratic Convention. It is the case of the properties confiscated by the Communists from tens of thousands of people, from the Greek-Catholic Church etc. The question was: "Mister President, we want to know when will the private property in Romania be reinstated to its natural rights and regarded as saint and inviolable ?"

The second question, entitled "about religious liberty" refers to the fact that, after the Revolution, one of the most valuable liberties won in Romania after the December 89 revolution was the religious one. Unfortunately, correcting the injustices of the past is delayed, especially those concerning the confiscation by the Communists of buildings used for religious services. The tensions between the Orthodox and the Greek-Catholic communities is maintain, Pope's visit is postponed for whatever reasons, etc. The question is: "Mister President, as the unity of the Romanian people means accepting the diversity of religious beliefs, how can you ensure that all, and not only some, churches in which the Romanians pray are considered national ?"

The third question, "about the files of the members of the former secret police - the Ticu law" says that, for achieving the moral purification of the country, the law of senator Ticu Dumitrescu would have been beneficial for Romania, and would have achieved "a huge thing" creating the premises for trust between people and people's trust in State institutions. Nowadays, the way the law was mutilated leads to its lack of finality, reason for which even its author refuses to recognize it. The question was: "Mister President, what future has a country in which people don't trust each other and how do you believe Romania's moral purification can be achieved without a law regarding the release of Communist files which only in Romania and Russia have not yet been published (?) ?"

The fourth question, "about NATO and the European community" refers to Romania's desire for integration with the western civilization and to the official efforts, including those of the President, to obtain our country's access to NATO and the EU. Despite the openness shown by the member states of these bodies, Romania still has many problems to solve on the internal plane "to be compatible with these structures and not be rejected as a foreign body." The question: "Mister President, do you believe Romania's integration with the western structures is possible and, if so, how do you envisage this process ?"

The fifth question, "about the relation with the Diaspora" underlines that the number of Romanian emigrants in the United States and Canada reached one million. "The Communists called us country traitors, convicted us and seized all we had and forbade our relations with the motherland" it is said in the preamble. It is added: "yet we do not forget and we'll never forget our first country" and "we want to enhance our relations with the motherland and to be no longer regarded as country traitors or citizens of an inferior category." The question is: "Mister President, how do you intend to put an end to this state of things and remove the communist stigma of shame so we can have normal relations with the motherland ?"

Because of the short time available, Mr. Emil Constantinescu gave only a global and, somehow, formal answer. Yet, the questions remain just as ardent and not only the president must answer, but all the political forces that entitle themselves democratic. We are waiting...