Ceaușescu's revenge: 66% of Romanians consider him a good leader, express nostalgia for pre-1989 period

Almost 36 years since the counterrevolutionary events in Romania and the execution of of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, capitalist barbarity has made most Romanians nostalgic of the pre-1989 years. 

A recent INSCOP agency survey reveals that 66% of Romanians consider Ceaușescu a good leader, while only 24% view him negatively. The study, titled Public Perception of Communism: Markers of nostalgia, conducted in July 2025 with a sample of 1,500 respondents. 

30 years since the execution of Ceausescu — Who has benefited?

"We want to die together" were the last words of Elena
Ceausescu. Bucharest, 25 December 1989.

Thirty years have passed since the counterrevolutionary events in Romania and the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena. It was on December 25, 1989 when, after a hasty, parody trial before a Kangaroo court, the Ceausescu couple were executed in Targoviste, north of Bucharest. 

According to the head of the firing squad, Nicolae Ceausescu sang "The Internationale" while being led up against the wall. The execution of Ceausescu marked the end of the counter-revolutionary overthrow of Socialism in Romania and the beginning of a “new order” in the country.

61% of Romanians express a positive view on Communism — Exclusive Report

On the occasion of the 30 years since the overthrow of socialism and the restoration of capitalism, the Romanian Academy assigned the conduction of a research regarding the romanian public opinion on several issues. 

The survey, which took place between 12 April and 3 May 2019, was conducted by the INSCOP Research Institute and the Laboratory of Informational War and Strategic Communication (LARICS). The research included issues such as the national pride of the Romanian people and their view over a possible union of the country with the Republic of Moldova. 

Ceausescu Reloaded: Romania's capitalist hell makes people to reminisce the era of Socialism

OUR COMMENT.

Almost 27 years have passed since the counterrevolutionary events in Romania and the execution of Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena. On December 25, 1989, after a hasty, parody trial before a Kangaroo court, the Ceausescu couple were executed in Targoviste, north of Bucharest. According to the head of the firing squad, Nicolae Ceaușescu sang "The Internationale" while being led up against the wall. The execution of Ceausescu marked the end of the counter-revolutionary overthrow of Socialism in Romania and the beginning of a “new order” in the country.

Ceausescu is an exemplary case of how western media manipulate the image of a politician. When, for example, Romania did not participate in the intervention of the Warsaw Pact armies in Czechoslovakia in 1968, the West praised Ceausescu as a “good pal” within the eastern bloc. When Romania accepted to participate in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympiad (which was boycotted by the other Socialist countries), western media again praised Nicolae Ceausescu for his “disobedience towards Moscow”. However, this changed when the Romanian leader distanced himself from Gorbachev's counter-revolutionary line of “compromise” with Imperialism. Then, the directed western media propaganda started to present Ceausescu as the “Dracula”, demonizing his leadership. The “good guy” of the eastern bloc rapidly transformed into a “brutal dictator” in the eyes of the so-called international community.