On 32nd anniversary of Brasov revolt PM Orban says sufferings of anti-communist heroes must not be forgotten

In a message on the 32nd anniversary of the anti-communist uprising of November 15, 1987 in Brasov, Prime Minister Ludovic Orban says the sufferings of Romania's anti-communist heroes must not be forgotten. 

"Today it is 32 years since the moment of Brasov 1987, when workers on the industrial platform of Brasov had the courage to unite spontaneously in the streets to say no to communism. In a bleak time of our recent history, in which any form of expression was stifled and harshly punished by the totalitarian regime, it was for the first time that people's grievances became louder and louder, as other city dwellers joined the protest. Those who on November 15, 1987 shouted out their revolt against a regime that humiliated and kneeled the Romanians were investigated, sentenced, beaten, sent to forced labor, separated from their loved ones, and for their families the ordeal followed. The attempt of the communist authorities to hide the truth about this explosion of dissatisfaction of an entire nation was in vain. The downfall of the communist dictatorship, that very few was expecting, would come in December 1989, after two more years of cold, darkness, fear and hunger for Romanians," Orban is quoted as saying in a press statement. 

He points out that "the sufferings of all these heroes, known and unknown, of the anti-communist fight in Romania, must not be forgotten." 

"Freedom, democracy, the rule of law, the return to the European family and the free world, the right of people to a dignified life, the right to vote, are values that we have regained thanks to them as well. All of us, society, institutions, political class, have a duty and a responsibility to treasure and defend them. We thank them, with all due respect!," Orban concludes.