US EditionCasket of Romania's Divisive First Post-Communist President, Ion Iliescu, Lies in State for Funeral
ROMANIA, AUG 6 – Ion Iliescu, Romania's first post-communist president, died at 95 amid unresolved legal charges and a divided public legacy, with a national day of mourning declared.
- Ion Iliescu, Romania's first elected president after communism's fall, died on Tuesday, August 5, 2025, at age 95, and his casket was transferred for a state funeral.
- Iliescu assumed power after the 1989 Revolution and the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, amid a bloody transition marked by violent crackdowns on protesters.
- Iliescu led Romania's shift toward Western democratic values, founded the Social Democratic Party, faced major legal battles for alleged crimes against humanity during unrest, but was never convicted.
- Political reactions to Iliescu's death remain divided, with PSD mourning, Save Romania Union opposing national mourning, and former leaders calling him a historical figure; Patriarch Daniel offered condolences.
- Iliescu's burial on Thursday prompted a national day of mourning with half-staff flags, symbolizing the end of an era in Romania's complex post-communist history.
27 Articles
27 Articles
Ion Iliescu, Romania's first post-communist president, passed away on August 5 at the age of 95. On Thursday, he was solemnly buried in an act of state. He was investigated until the last time, as the prosecutor's office accused him of crimes against humanity committed during the 1989 revolution.
Gigi Becali was present on Wednesday, 6 August 2025, to bring a final tribute to the former President of Romania, Ion Iliescu. It was written at the Cotroceni Palace, during the official funeral ceremony. The article Gigi Becali, hosted at Ion Iliescu's cataphal. "If it wasn't for him, we would have gotten foreign slaves" appeared for the first time in Romania TV.
Several hundred people have gone to Ion Iliescu's cataphalt in the first hours since the opening of the Cotroceni Palace for the public. They have thrown flowers and candles and brought him a tribute to the former chief of...
Associated Press News
Casket of Romania's divisive first post-communist president, Ion Iliescu, lies in state for funeral
The casket carrying the body of Ion Iliescu, Romania’s first elected president after the bloody fall of communism in 1989, was transferred on Wednesday from the hospital where he died to the capital’s presidential palace for a state funeral as the late leader’s death continues to divide opinion.
According to information provided by the Government, the program of state funerals provides that Ion Iliescu's writing with his body will leave at 8:30 a.m. on the hospital to the Cotroceni Palace. At the intersection of the Sanitary Hero...
Ion Iliescu, the first president of Romania after the fall of communism, died at 95 years of age after lung cancer. He was the President of Romania three times and was sent to trial for crimes against humanity in the Minerade file of 13-15 June 1990, researching for the same crime and in the Revolution, where he lost my life. He was admitted to the Emergency Hospital “Prof. Dr. Agrippa Ionescu” on 8 June, having worked twice and devoted to inten…
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- 33% of the sources lean Left, 33% of the sources are Center, 33% of the sources lean Right
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