NID: ROMANIA: CEAUSESCU FACES THE NATION

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe: A 30-Year Legacy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06826834
• 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 21, 1989

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826834
I -I -I
�/ 1-1
A
ROMANIA: Ceausescu Faces the Nation
President Ceausescu yesterday publicly acknowledged continuing
disturbances in Timisoara amid growing signs of concern within th
security forces over their ability to control the unrest.
During a nationally televised s eech. C'eau poured visibly
shaken and tired. He claimed
hooligans, organize v 'um enlist" and -foreign intelligence"
forces, were behind the unrest. Ceausescu also decreed a state of
emergency in the Timisoara arca. banned publ c gathcrin s of more
-than five pcoIe. and laccd security forces on full alert.
crowds of several thousand gathered
in me center orTimisoara yesterday afternoon for the fourth straight
day. Workers have occupied and threatened to destroy a chemical
plant in the city if troops arc not withdrawn
An unidentified telephone caller, being interviewed on
state television, said last nieht II the tanks had been pulled out of
town.
Comment: The fate of the Ceausescu regime may depend on a quick
end to the disturbances. If they continue to spread�particularly if
they reach the capital�some security officials may lose their nerve
and balk at obeying orders to continue using deadly force against
their fellow citizens. Any break in the discipline of the security
forces�the critical pillar of the reeime-7ould cause its sudden and
swift collapse.
3
ThilrSeCtel
TC S 2995/89
21 December 1989
Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826834