PART THIRTY FIVE: THE TRANSYLVANIAN CORRIDOR
United States presidential election, 1992
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nominee:
Bob Kerrey (NE)-Al Gore (TN) (Democrat)
George H. W. Bush (TX) -Dan Quayle (IN) (Republican)
Ross Perot (TX) -James Stockdale(IL) (Independent)
Electoral vote:
Kerrey- 400
Bush- 138
Perot- 0
States carried:
Kerrey- 34 + DC
Bush- 16
Perot- 0
Popular vote:
46,909,806 (45.2%)
33,104,550 (31.9%)
23,743,821 (22.9%)
The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush; Democratic Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot.
Bush had alienated much of his conservative base by breaking his 1988 campaign pledge against raising taxes. Also, the economy was in a recession, and Bush's perceived greatest strength, foreign policy, became his greatest liability as the former Soviet Union, headed by a right wing junta made up of radical nationalists and the military, began to challenge the west in the former Yugoslavia and Romania. A UIS invasion of the former Yugoslav republic of Croatia coupled with a UIS backed Hungarian revolution in western Romania the day of the election all but sealed the fate for Bush and destroyed any hope for a comeback in the polls.
Presidential election results map. Red denotes states won by Bush/Quayle, Blue denotes those won by Kerrey/Gore.
Romanian President outlaws pro-Hungarian political party, prompting protests across Romania
By Richard Roundtree
Economist
November 1, 1992
Gheorghe Funar wasted no time in rattling the system in Romania, issuing an executive order that drew harsh criticism from opposition parties. In his first official presidential act, Funar stunned NATO leaders and fellow Romanians by outlawing the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, a political party popular with the Hungarian ethnic minority population.
“It is time that we stop the divisive policies of the past and accept that there are no Hungarians in Romania,” Funar said in a press conference, “there are only Romanian citizens. This country stands unified with all of her citizens, regardless of race.”
The move sparked protest across central Romania with ethnic Hungarians taking to the streets to condemn the move.
“Besides the fact that he has no legal authority to outlaw a political party by executive order, the suggestion that there are no Hungarians in Romania is asinine,” commented Hungarian politician Béla Markó, “considering Romania needs to strengthen ties to the west, this sort of act only serves to isolates us.”
Both former president Ion Iliescu and Romanian Democratic Convention leader Emil Constantinescu also condemned the move.
“The greatest threat this country faces today is not the Hungarian minority population, which has never revolted against the central government, nor ever supported separation from Romania,” Constantinescu said in a press release, “the greatest threat Romania faces today is from the former Soviet Union. And President Funar has just weakened Romania’s position and lessened the likelihood of NATO admission through his reckless and illegal proclamation.”
Hungary has expressed deep reservations about President Funar’s proclamation, and has called on NATO to withhold admission until the rights of minorities in Romania are guaranteed.
Protesters in Romanian city of Târgu Mureș fired upon by sniper as fears of civil war intensifies
By Richard Roundtree
Economist
November 2, 1992
President Funar calls for calm
Just a day after Romanian president Gheorghe Funar issued a controversial executive order outlawing the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania, a political party aimed at protecting the rights of the Hungarian minority population in Romania, fears of a civil war have emerged in the former Warsaw pact nation. A peaceful protest of Hungarians and Romanians in the ethnically diverse city of Târgu Mureș ended in riots when a sniper fired upon the protesters, killing seven before being captured by Romanian officials. The riots, which have engulfed Târgu Mureș and which threaten to spiral into other ethnically mixed cities in the central regions of Romania, have badly rattled the new President, who visibly was shaken in a press conference as he called for calm and promised to withdraw the executive order banning the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania. However, it may prove to be too late, as a previously unknown political entity called the “Szekely Liberation Front” has issued a proclamation, calling for the independence of Szeklerland and for Hungarians to “reject slavery and fascism and stand for a free and united Szekely Republic.”
Still, many in the west have questioned the legitimacy of the SLF, which German Chancellor Helmut Kohl called “a puppet of Moscow.”
“It is clear to us that the SLF is not a legitimate organization representing the interests of the Hungarian ethnic minority of Romania,” Kohl said in a press conference earlier today, “rather, it is clearly a tool of Moscow attempting to create discord and disunity within Romania in an attempt to further Moscow’s aims in the region.”
Many in the West and even in Romania have questioned the legitimacy of the SLF as well, noting that the UIS almost immediately issued a “statement of support” for the SLF. Critics also note that the alleged sniper, Mihai Baboescu, was a former Communist Party supporter with strong ties to the KGB. A neighbor noted that Baboescu spent much of the previous Christmas “in tears over the execution of Ceaușescu.”
“He clearly was devastated that communism was over,” the neighbor said, “up until recently he still flew the communist era flag. I don’t understand why he would suddenly turn so radically.”
Still, it appears that as riots spiral out of control in central Romania, that the country may become the latest casualty of the rapidly deteriorating political situation in Eastern Europe.
“Romania after Ceaușescu” (Routledge Series on Russian and East European Studies)
by Robert Solomon
Routledge Press, (2003)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: A MISTAKE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS
Once the unheard of Szekely Liberation Front issued its proclamation calling for the independence of Szeklerland, many Romanian opposition groups suddenly realized that former President Ion Iliescu’s dire warnings were in fact coming to fruition. Ion Iliescu prophetically warned Romanians during Funar’s swearing in ceremony that Russia was determined to create any sort of pretext to keep the road between the Ukraine and Yugoslavia open (dubbing it the “Transylvanian corridor”) and that Russian President Vladimir Zhirinovsky would have no qualms about creating civil war in Romania if it meant keeping supplies flowing to the newly annexed UIS Republic of Krajina. Although Funar was dismissive of the former President at the time, what was clear just three weeks into his Presidency was that Iliescu’s warnings were in fact legitimate, prompting many in his cabinet to quietly suggest that Funar had “been played.” It became clear that the UIS was manipulating the misguided statements of President Gheorghe Funar to create a “Transylvanian corridor” and that the SLF, an organization clouded in mystery, was the tool to create just such an opening.
“There are many reasons why Romanians call Funar’s Presidency ‘the great catastrophe’ despite the fact that it was so brief,” commented Daniel Barbu, a Romanian journalist, “but the ease upon which he let Zhirinovsky manipulate him was clearly reason number one. Before he took office there were issues between Hungarians and Romanians, sure. But in three weeks he created so much discord between the Hungarians and central government that he allowed the fictitious SLF to jump into the picture and start a civil war that nobody except Zhirinovsky wanted.”
Although Funar tried desperately to downplay his rhetoric once the SLF issued its declaration of independence, tensions spiraled out of control as riots spread all over central and western Romania over the course of three days. On November 3rd, 1992, as American voters took to the polls, armed units of the SLF, assisted by UIS “advisors” seized the town of Borsec in central Romania. The SLF proceeded to arrest the entire Romanian population, which numbered just under three hundred and fifty. Historians widely consider the capture of Borsec as the start of the Romanian Civil War.
