Romania: Country Profile from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office

The following information has been edited from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office website: www.fco.gov.uk

BASIC INFORMATION

Area: 238,391 sq km

Population: 22.6m

Capital City: Bucharest (population: 2m)

People: Romanian (89.4%); Hungarian (7.1%); German (0.5%); otrechers (3%)

Languages: Romanian. English, French and German are widely spoken

Religion(s): Orthodox (86.8%); Roman Catholic (5%); Reformed (3.5%); Protestant (3.5%); Greek Catholic, Unitarian and others (1.2%)

Currency: Leu, plural Lei

Major political parties: PSD (Social Democratic Party); PRM (Greater Romania Party); PD (Democratic Party); PNL (National Liberal Party); UDMR (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania)

Government: Parliamentary Democracy

President: Traian Basescu

Prime Minister: Calin Popescu Tariceanu

GEOGRAPHY

Romania lies in SE Europe, bordered by Ukraine, Moldova, Hungary, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria as well as by the Black Sea. The Danube flows along the southern border and forms a delta where it flows into the Black Sea, famed for its beauty and wildlife. The Carpathian Mountains and Transylvanian Alps divide the country into three historical regions: Wallachia to the South, Moldavia to the North-East and Transylvania to the North-West. Several large rivers, such as the Mures and the Siret, rise in these mountains whose highest point is Mt Moldoveanu, 2544m above sea level. The climate is temperate with hot, dry summers, punctuated by thunderstorms and showers, and cold winters with frequent snowfall, especially in the high mountains.

HISTORY

From 1946 to 1989 Romania was ruled by the Communist Party, led after 1965 by Nicolae Ceausescu. Ceausescu's regime was known for totalitarian excess and oppression. Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed on 25th December 1989, as a result of the December Revolution, a revolt against the Communist Dictatorship, which started in Timisoara and quickly spread throughout the country. Romania was then led by President Ion Iliescu, of the National Salvation Front, (which later became the Party for Social Democracy in Romania (PDSR) and more recently the Social Democratic Party (PSD). The government's performance was mixed.

There was little progress in tackling corruption, reforming Romania's bureaucracy and introducing a market economy. However political pluralism and a vibrant free media did become entrenched. In November 1996 the centre-right Democratic Convention won the presidential elections and formed a coalition government with the centre-left Union of Social Democrats and the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), representing the interests of Romania's 1.7m strong ethnic Hungarian minority. The Democratic Convention's candidate, Emil Constantinescu, won the presidential contest. This change of government was greeted with much optimism after the drift and stagnation of the latter years of the PDSR government

However this optimism was short-lived. The Constantinescu administration suffered badly from internal disagreements. In four years there were three different Prime Ministers and only very limited progress was made with reforms. Economic performance dropped dramatically. Constantinescu's last Prime Minister, Mugur Isarescu, (the governor of the National Bank) arrived on the scene too late to save the government from a punishing electoral defeat in November 2000.

The 2000 elections saw a significant swing back to Iliescu and the PDSR, but there was also a marked increase in support for the extreme nationalist Greater Romania Party (PRM). The PDSR won 45% of the seats in parliament, while the PRM, the second largest party in parliament, secured 25% of the seats. Centre Parties performed poorly. Constantinescu's Party failed to gain any seats in parliament. Iliescu was successful in the second round of the presidential contest, and appointed Adrian Nastase, from the more forward-looking wing of the party, to be his Prime Minister.

The PDSR (latterly PSD) Government showed more cohesion and a greater clarity of purpose than its predecessors. It concluded a cooperation protocol, renewed in February 2003, with the UDMR. The PSD tried to project a reformist image and was committed to Euro-Atlantic integration.

In November 2002, Romania received an invitation to begin negotiations to join NATO in May 2004. The Copenhagen European Council in December 2002 provided Romania with a road map, with the objective of EU membership in 2007. These successes showed that Romania was making progress. But the reform process was slow in key areas, such as Justice and Home Affairs, public administration, development of a professional apolitical civil service and economic restructuring.

In May 2001, the Mayor of Bucharest, Traian Basescu, was elected president of one of the main opposition parties, the Democratic Party (PD), which formed an alliance with the National Liberal Party (PNL), in September.

The Government's poll rating was consistently high throughout 2003. However, local elections took place in June 2004, in which the strength of the opposition vote clearly took the PSD by surprise, sparking much internal recrimination. The PSD maintained its overall position as the dominant party with 43% of the vote, but was significantly weakened, with the PD-PNL alliance winning 34%.

Dacia, a region roughly approximating to present-day Romania, was incorporated into the Roman Empire in AD 107. Although the Roman presence lasted only until AD 271 Romanians continue to trace their national and linguistic birth back to this period. The Romans were driven out by advancing Goths whose arrival, as well as those of later invaders, drew a veil over Romanian history until about the 13th Century. After this date Romania's three main regions, Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia followed different paths of development until 1918.

Transylvania was under Hungarian, Ottoman or Habsburg rule until its incorporation into the Kingdom of Romania after the First World War. Wallachia and Moldavia were feudal tributary states of the Ottoman Empire for most of their recorded history, but they produced some leaders who effectively opposed Ottoman rule, most famously, Stephen the Great in the 15th Century and Michael the Brave in the 16th Century. The 15th century Wallachian ruler, Vlad Tepes (Vlad the Impaler), also known as Dracula, is perhaps the most well known figure from this period. Bram Stoker's novel transformed him from a local despot into an international legend.

Wallachia and Moldavia emerged from Ottoman rule in the 19th Century and achieved independence as the unified Kingdom of Romania in 1881. During the First World War, Romania fought on the side of the allies and gained significant territories in the post-war peace settlement, including its reunification with Transylvania in 1918. It entered WWII as an ally of Nazi Germany, but later switched sides. In 1944 Soviet forces entered Romania and put pressure on King Michael to accept the appointment of a communist-led government and in 1947 the King was forced to abdicate and left Romania for London.

POLITICS

National elections in late 2004 resulted in a new president and government. Traian Basescu, the Mayor of Bucharest, was elected president on a pro-Western, anti-corruption ticket. He appointed Calin Popescu Tariceanu (leader of the PNL) as Prime Minister.

The new cabinet includes representatives from four political parties - PNL (liberals), PD (democrats), PUR (humanists) and UDMR (the Hungarian grouping) - who are notable for their relative youthfulness and lack of political experience. This relatively weak coalition is dominated by an alliance of the PNL and PD (which campaigned as the DA, or Democratic Alliance). The PSD, which won the largest single share of the vote in the parliamentary elections, constitutes a numerically strong opposition which commands much loyalty, especially in rural areas.

Local, presidential and parliamentary elections all took place in 2004. The next round of elections is unlikely to be before 2008, unless the president calls for fresh parliamentary elections in the hope of strengthening the government's currently fragile position.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Romania concluded a Basic Treaty with Hungary in 1996, and in recent years, there have been efforts by both sides to improve relations. A compromise has been reached on Hungary's controversial Status Law, which gives discriminatory rights and privileges to Hungarians in neighbouring countries. Romania's ethnic Hungarian minority in Transylvania is thought to number 1.7m.

Relations with Russia have been coloured by longstanding suspicion of Russian influence in the region. A bilateral Basic Treaty was signed with Ukraine in 1997 though the two countries are still negotiating border-related issues. President Iliescu paid a three-day visit to Ukraine in September 2002. Romania devotes considerable attention and resources to its relations with Moldova, which was part of Romania from 1918 until it was lost to the USSR in 1940. Relations with Bulgaria are healthy. A dispute over the location of a proposed second bridge over the Danube appears to have now been resolved.

Romania began accession negotiations with the EU in 2000 and formally finished them in December 2004. Provided that it fulfils its commitments to implement European standards in areas such as the economy and the judicial system Romania will become a full member of the EU in January 2007.

Romania has contributed a military police platoon, a transport aircraft and crew, an aviation technical assistance team and three military liaison officers to the international effort in Afghanistan, and is the fourth largest troop contributor in Iraq. The country joined NATO in May 2004.