PSD: Ion Iliescu will remain the symbol of a politician and statesman

Ion Iliescu will remain the symbol of a politician and statesman, the Social Democratic Party (PSD) said on Tuesday, after the death of the former head of state and a former national leader of the party.

"In memoriam. Ion Iliescu (March 3, 1930 - August 5, 2025), former honorary president of PSD. Today is a very sad day for Romania. The former president of Romania, founder of the Social Democratic Party, Mr Ion Iliescu, has passed away. A prominent figure of the Romanian Revolution and of the history of contemporary Romania, President Ion Iliescu will remain for all of us the symbol of a politician and statesman," reads a message from PSD.

According to PSD, Iliescu had the courage to confront late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his dictatorship and irreversibly steered Romania on a Euro-Atlantic path.

"It has recently been 30 years since the signing of the Snagov Pact, when the entire political class, Power and Opposition, under the leadership of President Iliescu, initialled Romania's European path. In 1994, Romania was the first country in the East to sign the Partnership for Peace, and in its last tenure in 2002, Romania was invited to join NATO, at the Prague Summit. PSD is proud to have placed Romania in the most select clubs of the world's nations, and the role of President Iliescu is essential."

The in-memoriam message also shows that Iliescu won the presidential elections three times and set moral and political standards that will be difficult to achieve.

"He was a defender of the spirit and letter of the Constitution and exercised his exemplary role as a mediator in society. As long as we do politics, we will relate to the president as an unavoidable landmark. He taught us to do politics for the many. He was a strong leader, loved by most, challenged by others, as it happens in a democracy. We regret that in recent years we have not been closer to Mr President, just as he was with the party in its difficult moments. We reaffirm now, at the hour of the temporary separation from our founder, our gratitude for all that the President offered us. A model of politics and life. In the history of the last 35 years, the Ion Iliescu chapter is the most important," reads the message.