Romanian politicians are delivering messages after the death of former President Ion Iliescu, on Tuesday, at the age of 95.

Romanian politicians are delivering messages after the death of former President Ion Iliescu, on Tuesday, at the age of 95.

'Ion Iliescu died and took with him almost a century of Romanian history. He was a statesman who cultivated respect based on dialogue. He knew how to solve with wisdom and balance many of the problems of the complicated transition that Romania went through after 1989. He knew how to build teams, he knew how to establish alliances but, above all, he managed to generate consensus on the great challenges of post-December Romania. From that point of view, the Snagov Table remains a great example,' former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase wrote in a blog post.

The former prime minister recalled his long collaboration with Iliescu, to whom he owes his entry into politics.

'We have been working together since 1990. I owe my entry into politics to him. I admired his political qualities but also his human qualities, his passion for culture, his ability to listen, his ability to analyse. I admired his strength to communicate directly with ordinary people but also his presence at international meetings. Most often, I had similar opinions. I think that in the last twenty years there was a lack of a more consistent presence of him in public life. Probably many will value him more after he is gone. He wrote a lot, gave interviews, gave speeches. Looking around today, I would like the younger ones to learn something from all of this. Although I am not very optimistic,' said Nastase.

Ion Iliescu was truly a president, says Victor Ponta, a former national leader of the Social Democrats. 'With good and bad (...) - as is the case with any great political personality - but, without a doubt, a president of Romania and of the Romanians, who has profoundly marked our history. At least for the fact that under his tenure Romania concluded the accession negotiations to the European Union and NATO, he remains a defining figure for the country's destiny,' Ponta wrote on Tuesday in a social media post.

Former President Traian Basescu conveyed his condolences to Mrs Nina Iliescu, as well as 'the respect due to the memory of the first elected President of Romania.'

Ion Iliescu had an important role in Romania's strategic orientation towards NATO and the European Union, but the suffering of those who paid with blood for the Revolution and miners' riots cannot be ignored, says national leader of the Save Romania Union (USR) Dominic Fritz .

'The death of Ion Iliescu is painful not because of his departure, but because it leaves us with so many open wounds. Yes, he had an important role, in his last tenure, in Romania's strategic orientation towards NATO and the European Union - a direction that still defines us today. But we cannot pass over in silence - yes, not even today - the suffering of those who paid with their blood for the Revolution and miners' riots for the right to freedom and democracy. We cannot ignore the fact that he patronised a post-communist system whose tentacles still hold us back today. Many are still waiting for justice,' the USR leader wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.

He added that Iliescu also took with him answers to questions that still trouble the Romanian society.

Chairman of the Romanian Senate Mircea Abrudean sent condolences to Iliescu's family and friends.

'The former president of Romania, Ion Iliescu, passed away today. With his departure, Ion Iliescu definitively goes down in the pages of history. Time will allow a complete and balanced analysis of the role he played in public life. I am sending my condolences to his family, friends and all those who were close to him. May God forgive him and rest him in peace!' Abrudean in a social media post. AGERPRES (RO -writing by: Mariana Ionescu; EN - writing by: Corneliu-Aurelian Colceriu)