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WITH MODERN BELGRADE
skyline in the background, ancient Kalemegdan Fortress over/ooks Sava River.
somc j ustífica tíon. Cea usescu ís not
on ly Romanía's pa rty chíef. but a lso
p resíd ent, comma nder- ín-ch ief o f
the army, and director of Roma n ia's
economic policy.
l f a "pe rsona lity cult" can be
measured in te rms o f the numbe r o f
p ic tures and pos ters of the person in
pub lic, then Mr. Ceausescu would
ra te very h igh . Cea usescu p ictu res
in Romanía a re wha t Lenin posters
a re in the Soviet Uni on .
Tight Reins
M r. Cea usescu is a powerfu l fi g–
ure a t the head o f a regime tha t.
despite many Weste rn ties. brooks
-no oppo ítion and mai nlai ns, in
slark contrast to Yugos lav ia. very
tight interna! control.
One sensed lhe d ifference imme–
d ia tely upon la ndi ng a t Bucha resl's
a ir po rt on a flight from Belgrade.
O n t he a p ron sa t th ree new
Boc ing 707s - illustra ling Wes tern
econom ic ti es. Bul v iew ing the
ma rch ing (and a l times double-tim–
ing) soldi ers sporting submachine
guns bolh on lhc oulside of the a ir–
po rt as well as in th c lobby, one
q u ickly grasped he had ente red a
country with very rigid contro ls.
Bucha rest a irport was a lso lhe
only port o f enl ry whe re we have
ever been searched on l he
way
in!
And for sorne cu riou rea on, we
were loaded onlo an a irpo rt lram
12
upon leavi ng the p la ne. even lhough
we would only have had to wa lk
abou t 100 fee t lo reach the termina l
door. Th e trip was so sho rt tha t the
tra m driver c ircled back a round the
pl a ne to make the j ourney seem
longe r. The en ti re run was con–
duc ted under the wa tchful sta re o f
a rmed sentries.
The price of Roma nia's progress,
it was appa rent, is curta ilment o f
freedom - even for tourists.
But th e men at the a pex o f Roma–
ni an po litics havc set thc ir course.
To the ir way of thi nking, tigh t con–
tro ls in a ll sph eres of society a re
necessary to gua rantee Roma nia's
sovcreignty.
Resisting Russian Pressure
Mr. Ceausescu does not enjoy th e
pri vil ege o f hi s coun t ry bei ng com–
p lete ly independent as is thc case
wi th Yu gos lav ia . Roma ní a is a
membe r, though a somewha t ba lky
one, of the Sovie t-led Wa rsaw Pact,
as well as
Comecon.
the East-bloc
íradc group ing.
But Mr. Ceausescu has stead fas tly
re fu sed to a llow Warsaw Pact ma–
neuve rs on Romania n so il o r
to
g ra nt th e Russ ians a mil ita ry supply
cor r id o r to Bu lgar ia. No Sovie t
troop~
are sta tioned in Roma nía.
Cca usescu has also refused to ac–
ce p t a decision to c reate an in–
tegra ted command s truct urc in the
Warsaw-Pact. or a cent ra l head–
qu arters staff such as NATO em–
p loys . As a result the Wa rsaw Pact
r emains a loosel y coordi na t ed
grouping, almost en tire ly unde r So–
viet control.
In sorne respects th en, Roman ía is
to the Warsaw Pact what France is
lo NATO - in lhe a lliance, bul
dragging its heels on the comma nd–
str uc ture issue.
As a fu rther irrita tion to Moscow,
Cea usescu has conlinua lly called for
the simult aneous abolition o f both
the Wa rsaw Pact and NATO - an
id ea lhe Russians don' t acce p t.
Moscow s tressing Lhat NATO has to
be dissolvcd fi rst.
Economic Self-Determination
In the broad fie ld of trade a nd eco–
nomics. Roma n ía has been even
more of a thorn in the Russian side.
Eve r since he LOok over lhe reigns
of power, Mr. Ceausescu has vigor–
ously pursued a Romania-firs t pol–
icy begu n in t he early 1960s.
The Roma nians have stcadfaslly
de te rmincd to push their own rap id
ind ustria liza tion p rogram, ra ther .
tha n just be ing the ga rden spo t and
gasol in c pump fo r the East - the
twi n ro les the Russians wan tcd to
give them in
Comecon.
Thc reason fo r M r. Cea usescu's
intransigence is very clear:
lt
is only
(Continued on page 14)
The PLAIN TRUTH June 1976