H.E. Emil Constantinescu Address

Address by H.E. Emil Constantinescu, President of Romania, at a Joint Meeting of the United States Congress
July 15th, 1998 Washington, D.C.

Mister Speaker, Honorable Senators and Representatives, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you for your warm welcome. It is a rare honor to be able to address those who make the laws of the United States — the laws of the country of freedom — and who stand as guardians of fundamental human rights in the United States and all over the world.

Throughout its history, your country has been a beacon of hope for the oppressed and the needy, a source of inspiration for the creative, the courageous and the achieving. It has always been, and may it ever remain, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Romania and the United States have a strong and growing relationship. We are linked to the United States by technology, know-how and capital. We are joined by hundreds of thousands of Romania's sons and daughters, people who came to this country over the years, and whose descendants now live in every corner of your magnificent land. But even more importantly, Romanians have always sent to America their most cherished treasure: their hopes for freedom.

We call America the Land of Freedom because this has been its guiding principle, as well as a source of inspiration to other countries around the world. But the term ‘land of freedom’ stands also for a virtual community of like-minded and like-hearted people all over the world, who believe in the defense of liberty, of human rights, and of human dignity. People of all races and backgrounds and religions are welcomed to join.

Regardless of where they live on the globe, people who believe in freedom are citizens of this virtual Land of Freedom. Since the fall of Communism, their numbers have grown steadily and enthusiastically. Since 1989, twenty-three million Romanians are among its proudest members.

Your Founding Fathers wrote: "When a long train of abuses and usurpation evinces a design to reduce people under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." This is what the Romanian people have done.

My country threw off the yoke of communism in 1989, and in 1996 it achieved its first fully democratic transfer of power. As President of a fully democratic Romania, I bring you the greetings and the hopes of my fellow citizens. It is their desire to live in the Land of Freedom alongside you and all other people who value freedom, human rights and human dignity. This desire has brought me to America and to this historic chamber today.

In the new global Order, this Land of Freedom spans the globe from East to West and from North to South. It is an expansive land of constantly changing landscape and with ever-changing contours. Its elusive borders are defined by each and every individual who is willing to defend liberty and property, and to respect the rule of law.

But in such an ever-changing landscape, people need anchors to keep steady and stable in a sea of change. As the messenger of the Romanian people, I am here to tell you that my country can - and wants to be - exactly that: an anchor of stability in the sometimes storm-ridden sea of Southeastern Europe. But for that anchor to keep steady, we need the acknowledgement and support of the United States of America.

We, the people of Romania, think we have earned it. Even as Romania was dragged into World War II by the Nazi regime, 6,000 Romanian citizens joined countless Romanian Americans to serve proudly in the U.S. Army, seeing action in the Pacific and North Africa. Some of these veterans are here today. On behalf of the Romanian people, I salute you. In defiance of the country’s unfortunate war alliance, more than fourteen hundred American pilots and soldiers were sheltered by the Romanian people, people who refused to see the Americans as enemies, and who insisted on seeing them as defenders of freedom.

During the 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of thousands of my countrymen were thrown in concentration camps and jails, tortured and killed only because they refused to yield their freedom. Farmers were jailed because they would not allow their land to be confiscated. Priests were tortured when they refused to forsake their beliefs. Intellectuals were sent to camps because they chose to defend freedom and democracy.

In all the Eastern and Central European countries, the armed resistance against Communism lasted longest in Romania. Romania’s Freedom Fighters were thousands of anti-Communist guerrilla-fighters who operated in the Carpathian mountains, including one in my childhood village. Their last members were not subdued until 1961. The terrible dramas of those death-sunken times, of suffering and humiliation, were (and perhaps still are) sealed off in silence and oblivion. Romanians paid a terrible price for their fierce refusal to surrender their freedom. Romania was subjected to the harshest totalitarian dictatorship in the region: the regime of the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

And yet, in 1989, Romanians summoned the courage to rise up against that dictatorship: hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets, defying Ceausescu’s tanks and troops. Bare-chested young people chanted: ‘We shall die but shall be free’. Over twelve thousand of them paid dearly, with their lives, and thousands more were injured during the anti-Communist Revolution in Romania, the only country in Central and Eastern Europe to have paid in blood the price of its freedom. Please allow me here, in this Temple of Democracy and freedom, to pay homage to all Romanians, — known or unknown — who suffered and died for liberty, and indeed to all people who fight in its cause, anywhere in the world.

I am here today as the representative of a free, democratic and proud Romania. I am here to tell you that you may always count on us to be vigilant guardians of the democratic values we share with you, the values we have fought so hard to regain.

But it is not enough to have freedom. Freedom must be maintained and defended on a constant basis. I feel the best way to meet this challenge is by working together in cooperative partnerships with other nations. For I think that all those who believe in freedom ought to have the means to defend their beliefs — together. Romania was the first country to join the U.S. in its Partnership for Peace, and my fellow citizens have now invested their hopes in one day joining an expanded NATO.

Some of you have strongly supported the enlargement of NATO to include Romania. For that we are grateful. Others have a less positive view, especially of a so-called ‘second wave’ of expansion. I respect your right to differ. But as the first Central European head of state to address you since the congressional debate over NATO expansion, I want to say how deeply I admire the role of the U.S. Congress in making this historic decision. The expansion of NATO is a visionary undertaking, a milestone in the history of Europe and the world.

I hope you see it in the same way. As a geologist I have learned that, while painfully climbing a mountain-peak, without being able to see it from afar, one might fail to grasp its greatness. As a President, I have noticed that many a time debates and arguments prevent us from spotting, in a storm of events, the ones which will defy eternity. As an ordinary person who thinks about his fate, as well as the fate of his people and the Eastern European peoples, I understand the tremendous force of an idea at work.

For more than one thousand years, the borders of Europe have been drawn or changed by war, dictate or external pressure. Since the Second World War, NATO has succeeded in maintaining peace in, and for, Western Europe. and in fostering well-being and progress in the nations that share its mission. At the same time, in Europe’s communist East, old conflicts have lain frozen, while new ones kept emerging. When the Berlin Wall collapsed at last, the peoples of the East won their freedom, but not the ability to put it to use together.

In this new and traumatic historical adventure —transition from totalitarian regimes to democracy and from centrally-planned economies to a market economy — the idea of joining NATO did not merely grow out of a need to be a part of a defensive military alliance. As a vector of a set of fundamental values of modern civilization, it has become the supreme expression capable of harnessing the major goal of human solidarity. Issues that had seemed impossible to solve, both within and between the various Eastern European countries, can now find a solution through joint democratic exercise that has replaced the harsh logic of confrontation with dialogue and cooperation.

Let us imagine for just one moment the European stage after the fall of communism, had NATO gotten frozen in its original project, leaving the East of Europe prey to violence and chaos. What would have been left of Eastern Europe, save for ruins, and how long would it have lasted before Western Europe and then maybe the U.S. itself had lapsed into the grip of antagonisms?

Now that freedom has come to the people of Eastern Europe, we aspire to take the next step and join a community of nations bound together by freedom, human dignity and prosperity. We welcome the chance to share our part of the burden of securing a peaceful future for all of Europe. But to do that, we need your help.

In many ways this moment is as crucial to the future of Europe as were the years after World War II that first gave birth to NATO itself. Your country undertook, with great wisdom and vision, the responsibility of world balance and world peace. We urge you to do so again. Romania does not seek to add to this historic burden, but to share it —modestly, yet reliably, as a trusted ally and friend. In order to build a fully prosperous, democratic and stable Europe —one that stretches from the Atlantic to the Urals and beyond — the US needs to anchor its policies to countries on Europe’s southeastern flank that share its democratic ideals and its commitment to the region’s stability.

Romania is such a country. I would even go so far as to say that Romania is a key to stability in the Southeastern part of Europe. It’s a bold statement, I know, but one that’s supported by three important factors.

First, Romania is the second largest country in the region, and centrally located in a place of strategic importance to the security of the entire area. We are truly a crossroads for many diverse cultures and civilizations —Western secular, Southern Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Muslim. Many observers have said conflicts seem almost inevitable, given Romania’s ethnic patchwork and complex border situation.

Still, we have managed to avoid conflict, both within and along our borders, and to successfully find political solutions to all potentially divisive ethnic and external issues. Today, for example, the Hungarian ethnic minority is part of the governing majority. The sensitive issues of the relations with the Republic of Moldova and the Ukraine have been resolved without tension. Religious minorities are developing an increasing dialogue with the Orthodox majority. Romania’s social peace is proof that when a democracy is firmly rooted, its institutions can weather the storms of social reform.

So the strength of our internal democracy is the first reason we are so important to regional stability.

Second, we have strong diplomatic and political ties with all countries in the area. For example, through good will and constant effort on the part of both countries, Romania has reached an historic agreement with Hungary to bring long-sought reconciliation between our two nations. The strength of this grassroots reconciliation has been successfully tested many times this past year. Recently, both our Hungarian minority and all Romanians were able to freely and peaceably commemorate the historic events of the 1848 democratic revolutions, when our two countries unfortunately fought against one another. We have concluded a sound treaty with the Ukraine, which provides for the mutual protection of our ethnic minorities, and starts many common projects.

Romania’s three-party agreements with Poland and the Ukraine, the Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, and Bulgaria and Turkey; and soon with Greece and Bulgaria, and Hungary and Austria — as well as the excellent relations with all the Balkan countries, the Baltic states, and, naturally, Russia — are tokens of our contribution to the regional security architecture, in a zone still marked by simmering conflicts.

Third, Romania is a key to stability in the region because it is at the crossroads of the two largest Euro-Asian trade-routes known for thousands of years: the East-West one, known as ‘the Silk Road’, running from China to Spain, and the North-South one, ‘the Amber Road’, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Sea. These roads will find a new meaning in the global world of the third millennium. It is particularly the ‘Silk Road’ project, which will tie Japan and China to Central Asian and Caucasian countries, Southeastern and Central Europe to Western Europe, from the Pacific to the Atlantic, that will most likely evolve into the biggest challenge of the early third millennium. Last week, I met with the presidents of Azerbaijan and Georgia to discuss the role our countries can play in securing the central tier of this vast trading route.

U.S. participation in this great effort is crucial. Not only does the U.S. lend tremendous credibility to such an undertaking, but it also helps ensure that future trade will be conducted in a stable region secured by open and cooperative democratic structures. Ethnic conflict arises because of a major deficit of democracy, invariably triggered in our part of the world by the representatives of the old communist structures, unwilling or unable to fit in the new context. Indeed, national-communism is not a residue but the ultimate expression of communism itself, with all its stock of hatred, grafted on the demons of chauvinistic nationalism. One of the admirable gestures of the American democracy lies in its assuming, alongside Europe, moral responsibility for the Holocaust. Meditating upon this example helps us understand that we all have the imprescriptible duty to be alert to any chauvinistic, anti-Semitic and aggressive deviation. Because aggressive hatred is like plague: it may recur anytime. It is in Romania’s interest to contribute to Southeastern Europe’s becoming a region where different modern, open societies coexist peacefully, a region where democracy, tolerance, freedom and human rights are at home. I believe this to be in America’s interest as well.

I would like to relate to you what Romanian opinion polls have repeatedly shown for the last several years, namely that the Romanian people consider the United States to be our most reliable partner. There is, between our people, an underlying closeness of our souls. One sign of this, I believe, was the outpouring of enthusiasm that welcomed President Clinton to Bucharest last summer. Another, more fundamental sign is the ongoing effort to build the closest possible strategic partnership between our country and the United States.

Romania is fully committed to forming and nurturing this special partnership. Democracy can only flourish in Romania, and we can only become a more positive influence in the region, if our role as a stabilizing force is acknowledged and supported by the U.S. and its allies. Romania is living proof that Eastern and Southeastern Europe are not doomed to a life of conflict. But we all have the duty to be on guard against hatred in any form. It is firmly in Romania’s interest to help Southeastern Europe become a region where democracy, tolerance, freedom and human rights are at home. I believe this is in America’s interest as well.

Over the past year, Romania has proved that the occasional political storm matters less than having a sound political foundation that allows us to weather those storms. We have also learned that despite our profound and unflinching commitment to privatization and economic reform, it will be more difficult to rebuild the Romanian economy than we or our friends had expected. We understand the need to balance our eagerness for speedy reform with the need to maintain social stability. We have been able to do this so far. Again, this is a tribute to our democratic institutions, and the commitment of our people to those institutions. The next step is to speed up privatization while maintaining our social equilibrium.

All of these efforts — consolidating our democracy, reforming our economy, helping to maintain the security of Eastern Europe — would be more difficult without your assistance. But I can assure you they are well worth your efforts, as they do so much to advance peace and stability in such a vital part of the world. I want to thank you, as representatives of the American people, on behalf of my country for the friendship and help the United States has shown us. Romania wants to continue enhancing our role as a key to stability in Southeastern Europe. To do this we must count on your continued support and the support of the other Western allies.

The Land of Freedom, the land I spoke about a few minutes ago, is a unique place. It belongs to those who are willing to sacrifice for its attainment and its defense. It’s the land your Founding Fathers conceived, and the one envisioned by our own patriotic thinkers and fighters. It is the land of your brave military men and women, as it is the land of Romania’s soldiers who volunteered to go to Albania, Angola, the Persian Gulf and Bosnia — in any country where peace is under attack. It is our challenge —together, as allies and partners — to build the bridges to the next millennium, from the Danube to the Potomac, from the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean and beyond, wherever people believe in and fight for freedom.

I would like to close with a true story. One hundred and fifty years ago, a young Romanian who had fought for freedom in the 1848 revolution, emigrated to America. His name was George Pomutz, which in Romanian means ‘little tree.’ Once on American soil, he volunteered for Lincoln’s Army and fought in some of the key battles of the Civil War including Vicksburg and Atlanta. Our ‘little tree’ went on to become a general in your army and later an American diplomat, serving in Russia where he helped negotiate the American purchase of Alaska. In 1944, long after his death, the Romanian community in the United States donated money to build a battleship, named for Romanian-American General George Pomutz. The ship named for the ‘little tree’ served in peace and war, always a symbol of strength and vigilance. Over the decades, its service attests to the common roots shared by our two people, the closeness of their souls, their love of freedom and their willingness to fight in its defense.

God bless America! God bless Romania! God bless the Land of Freedom!