NID: ROMANIA: UNREST SPREADING

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe: A 30-Year Legacy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06826833
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2019
• Publication Date: December 20, 1989

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826833
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ROM AN1A: Unrest Spreading
Street battles in Timisoara and reported unrest in other towns pose the
most serious threat yet to Ceausescu 's rule.
Estimates of casualties range from one to
2,000, most of them ranging between 250 and 400.
Unccnfirmed reports of' minor outbreaks in other cities, including
Arad Oradea, Sibiu, Brasov, and Curticil
students in Bucharest have
declared solidarity with the protesters. and police guards have been
posted at the university, armed troops
and militia were patrolling the streets in Bucharest yesterday and
guarcing government buildings and factories and that most
Romanians were confined to their workplaces during the day.
Large parts of the country are apparently under virtual martial law.
and security continues to be tightened nationwide. The
borders are closed to most visitors.
Meanwhile, President Ceausescu is due back
from a state visit to Iran today or tomorrow
Comment: If the violence persists or spreads to other cities, key
eleme nts of the security forces and the military will be increasingly
likely to forge an alliance with disgruntled Communist party officials
to me�ve against Ceausescu and his family. Even if the regime
contains and suppresses the unrest, the annarent casualti7 will
furthcr isolate and constrain it.
�TiRrSeer�4�__
TCS 2994/89
20 Mamba 1989
Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826833