December 1989 Otopeni massacre survivors gets badges of honours

Interior Minister Marcel Vela has awarded the ministry's badges of honours to the survivors of the December 23, 1989 massacre at the Otopeni Airport. 

According to a ministry's press statement, Vela attended a meeting on Tuesday with 15 of the massacre survivors. 

"These distinctions are a modest symbol, as a token of our appreciation for you and for those who sacrificed their lives in those terrible times. A gesture too small for what you and your comrades did 30 years ago and for the suffering of the families of those who were killed in that massacre," Vela told the attendees. 

The ministry also says that, following discussions with the survivors' representatives, also analysed was relocating the monument to the gendarmes killed in the massacre to a much more visible place than it is now, in order to truly honour the memory of the fallen soldiers in those horrendous moments. 

At the same time, considering that six of the survivors are active officers working with the Interior Ministry, Vela decided to reward them by "granting a salary increase for a period of six months". 

At the same ceremony, Colonel Ion Stamen, who was the commander of the military unit in Campina in December 1989, received the MAI Plaque of Honour. 

Also attending on behalf of MAI were, Inspector General of the Romanian Gendarmerie Bogdan Enescu, reserve colonel Traian Berbeceanu, an office manager at the ministry, and reserve general Gelaledin Nezir, honorary adviser to the interior minister.