The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the universal principles of human rights and the fundamental principles of the European Union as a community based on common values,

–  having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948,

–  having regard to its resolution of 19 September 2019 on the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe(1),

–  having regard to the resolutions and declarations on the crimes of totalitarian communist regimes adopted by a number of national parliaments,

–  having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.  whereas 2019 marks the commemoration of 30 years having elapsed since the Romanian revolution, triggered by the uprisings in Timișoara, that later continued in all parts of the country and culminated in an anti-totalitarian revolution in Bucharest, leading to the fall of the communist regime and the enactment of democracy; whereas this revolution represented the transition of the Romanian people towards freedom and the rule of law, which tragically resulted in the loss of 1 142 lives, 3 138 people being gravely injured, and over 760 individuals being illegally detained and tortured;

B.  whereas the Romanian revolution of December 1989 was the most violent of all the uprisings leading to the fall of communism in the states behind the Iron Curtain;

C.  whereas the revolution of December 1989 and the sacrifice of the Romanian citizens who courageously stood in the line of fire, opened up the country’s path towards NATO, the European Union and the democratic world, from which it had been torn away after the end of the Second World War against the will of the Romanian people;

D.  whereas the use of force against the Romanian people in December 1989 painfully shook all of Romanian society to the core, and the identification of the actual perpetrators of these crimes remains an agonising unresolved issue for the victims, their families and for all Romanian citizens;

E.  whereas no act of military aggression against one’s own people should remain unpunished;

F.  whereas the European Court of Human Rights judgements (Association ‘21 December 1989’ and Others v. Romania; Acatrinei and Others v. Romania; Șandru and Others v. Romania) recognise that massive violations of fundamental rights – such as violations of the right to life, of the prohibition of torture and inhuman or degrading treatment and of the right to respect for private and family life – had occurred during the revolution, and that these violations had been perpetrated by the forces of the communist dictatorial regime that opened fire on peaceful protesters and deprived a large number of demonstrators against Ceaușescu’s oppression of their liberty; whereas, even after so many years have gone by, neither the victims nor their heirs have learned the truth about the exact circumstances of these tragedies;

G.  whereas, as enshrined in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union, the Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights; whereas these values are common to all Member States;

H.  whereas the Romanian State has unnecessarily delayed the process of clarifying the truth and making it publicly available, which is paramount to guaranteeing the right of the victims and their heirs to equitable compensation and reparation; whereas the national authorities have failed to act with the necessary due diligence imposed by international human rights norms;

1.  Commemorates and hereby pays homage to the victims of the December 1989 revolution, who sacrificed their lives for the cause of ending the totalitarian dictatorship in Romania, and to their families;

2.  Acknowledges that the sacrifice of the peaceful protesters of December 1989 paved the way for Romania’s transition towards democracy, the rule of law and the establishment of a market economy, as well as its subsequent integration into the North-Atlantic Alliance and the European Union;

3.  Calls on the Romanian State to strengthen its efforts to clarify the truth in relation to the events of the revolution, an absolute necessity for the country, the Romanian people, Europe and the European Union, in light of the right of the Romanian people to learn the truth, 30 years on from the revolution of December 1989;

4.  Calls on the institutions of the European Union and its Member States, including Romania, to do their utmost to ensure that the crimes of communist regimes are remembered, and to guarantee that such crimes will never be committed again;

5.  Instructs its President to forward this Resolution to the Council, the Commission and the governments and parliaments of all Member States.

(1) Texts adopted, P9_TA(2019)0021.