Ex-Romanian President Iliescu Dies At 95

Former President of Romania, Ion Iliescu, who presided over the eastern European country’s chaotic transition from communism to democracy is dead.

Iliescu’s passage was conveyed in a statement by the Romanian government on Tuesday, saying its former leader died at the age of 95.

The late former president was hospitalised for lung cancer in early June. Last week, the Bucharest hospital, where he was receiving treatment, said his general condition was “critical”.

“It is with deep regret that the government announces the passing of the former President of Romania, Mr. Ion Iliescu,” said the statement.

The government extended its condolences to Iliescu’s “family and all those close to him”.

It added that details of his state funeral would be communicated in the coming days.

The influential politician was last seen in public in 2017 when he was questioned by prosecutors.

Born on March 3, 1930, Iliescu served as the former dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu’s minister for youth. But in the 1970s, he fell into disgrace and was sidelined.

He rose to power during the December 1989 anti-communist uprising that toppled Ceaușescu, under circumstances that remain unclear, becoming the self-appointed leader of an interim governing body, the National Salvation Front.

Iliescu then won a landslide victory in the country’s first democratic elections in May 1990.

He was reelected for a four-year term in 1992, but was defeated at the polls in 1996, only to return to power in 2000 for a last term allowed by the Constitution.

During his third term, Romania joined NATO in 2004 and signed the European Union accession treaty, with membership becoming effective in 2007.

Over the past two decades, Iliescu has faced charges of crimes against humanity over the violence during the fall of communism.