30 years after the revolution in Romania: "The greatest joy of my life"

Ana Maria Narti fled Romania in 1970 and received political asylum in Sweden. Here she has worked as a journalist, writer and MP for the People's Party.

The hopes were high when the Ceaușescure regime fell, at the end of the 1989 revolution.

- It was a bloodier revolution than in the other countries of eastern Europe because the repression was so severe. There was a strong desire for revenge and the former rulers defended their privileges, says Ana Maria Narti.

She describes the 1980s as the darkest time in the country. There was a shortage of food and electricity. The women would be forced to give birth to at least five children. The orphanages were filled by abandoned children who lived under horrendous conditions. The security service Securitate was feared and unknown for torture in prisons.

Ana Maria Narti believes that the thirty years that have passed since the revolution have been marked by a fight against corruption and abuse of power, and that many of the crimes of communism are still unresolved.

Some museums have recently been opened where evidence and evidence of abuse are presented.

- The 1989 revolution was the greatest joy of my life but also became the biggest disappointment. The democracy movement was brutally defeated by the communists who, together with the military and the security service, retained power, says Ana Maria Narti in SVT News.

She believes that EU membership was extremely important for the country's development, but that it also led to many Romanians leaving their home country to work in other EU countries. Living standards have been raised in recent years, but reforms are still needed in the health care and education system.

- In Romania, there are so many talented people, not least women, who have fought for freedom. If we do away with the past, we finally have a chance to become a normal country, thirty years after the revolution, believes Ana Maria Narti.