The memory of the heroes of the Romanian Revolution of December 1989 was honoured on Tuesday in the solemn session of the Senate dedicated to the 34th anniversary of this historic moment.

The meeting began with the Romanian national anthem and a moment of silence in memory of the heroes of the Revolution.

Social Democratic Party (PSD) senator Sebastian Raducanu pointed out that the values for which Romanians fought in December 1989 have become, over time, the basis of society.

"Thirty-four years ago, the desire to liberate Romania from the communist regime became so strong that Romanians took to the streets empty-handed and stood steadfast in the face of the guns (...) Young people need to know the past and the price paid for freedom in order to appreciate more what they have, but also to acknowledge that they are responsible for preserving and further consolidating the democratic process. The values for which Romanians fought in December 1989 have become, over time, the basis of our society. We have a duty not to forget the horrors of a regime that waged war against its own people. (...) Our thoughts go out to the martyrs of the Revolution, to their families (...) We honour their memory and sacrifice every day we fight for the fulfilment and defence of the ideals for which they sacrificed themselves," said Raducanu, from the Senate podium.

National liberal Party (PNL) senator Nicoleta Pauliuc argued for the construction of "a country project for the next 20 - 30 years", which is possible only with "education, health, infrastructure, solidarity, institutional consolidation".

"The blood spilled in December 1989 by the 1,166 dead and nearly 3,200 wounded demands truth. From this perspective, the Romanian justice system has the obligation to give an answer, and I wish all those who are litigants in this case good health, so that at some point they can answer on this Earth for all the suffering of that time. (...) I believe in Romania and I believe that only together we will succeed in building the country imagined by those who paid with the price of their lives in December 1989 in Timisoara, Bucharest and the other martyred towns so that we can be free today," said Pauliuc.

According to Save Romania Union (USR) senator Raoul Trifan, the revolutionaries who took to the streets 34 years ago in Timisoara did not want a Romania like the one we have today.

"According to a recent survey, almost half of Romanians believe that life was better before 1989, during communism. How did we, as a society, get to this point? How is it that Romanians have forgotten the food queues, the widespread shortages and the oppression of the hated communist regime? (...) The revolutionaries who took to the streets in Timisoara did not want a state like Romania is today, a state in which people are persecuted against each other based on their membership in one socio-professional category or another," said Trifan.

The leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) senators, Claudiu Tarziu, maintained that Tuesday's solemn Senate session "exudes formalism".

"The heroes of December 1989 did not die to be eulogized, they did not die for speeches to be uttered in their name and on their behalf, but they died for an ideal, that of freedom, a freedom that has been endangered, threatened for than once in the over three decades since the Revolution. (...) Today is a sad day, when we should at least appeal to memory. (...) The Romanian state has not fundamentally changed, unfortunately, in the three decades since the Revolution. (...) Freedom is a value that is proved by our every gesture, every day. This is the ideal of those who sacrificed themselves in '89, this should also be our way of honouring those who fell in '89 and if we do not defend freedom for ourselves we should at least do it for their memory," said Tarziu.

Hungarian Democratic Union of Romania (UDMR) senator Lorand Turos recalled that, every year, December is "a month fraught with strong emotions".

"The revolution proved that solidarity between different ethnicities and confessions can be stronger than their differences. December 1989 was not only a victory over communism, it was the first moment in our common history in which Romanian society and the national minorities achieved a unity, a solidarity never seen before for a common goal - the achievement of freedom. (...) The year '89 was the moment when together we laid the foundations of a free, democratic society, the moment when we all realised that our common path to Europe is the easiest to travel only through values such as freedom, equality and fraternity. (...) We all have a duty to keep alive the ideas of the Revolution: the pro-European orientation in society, to stop any process of restoration, to prevent any deviation from the path of democracy and interethnic coexistence," Lorand Turos said.

Non-affiliated senator Cosmin Poteras stressed that the best way to honour the memory of the heroes of the Revolution is "to bring the guilty to justice".

"Thirty-something years after those moments, Romania has failed to do so. (...) I hope that Romania will be able to bring the suspects to justice while they are still alive," Poteras said.AGERPRES(RO - author: Livia Popescu, editor: Claudia Stanescu; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)