The Mayor of Timisoara, Dominic Fritz, stated on Tuesday, during the festive session dedicated to the December 1989 Revolution, that what happened here 36 years ago is increasingly becoming history, while the responsibility of new generations must grow in relation to the values of democracy, in the spirit of Timisoara, and towards those who carried out the Revolution.
"Every year, our responsibility not to forget increases. Let us honour the memory of those who fell for freedom and celebrate the courage of those who took to the streets in Timisoara at that time! They had that courage on 16 December, without knowing how it would end. That is what courage means! There were a few brave individuals who first took to the streets, protested, and shouted. For me, the courage of these first people is remarkable, but it would not have been enough without the courage of the entire city of Timisoara, of those who came out of their homes, from the stairwells of apartment blocks in the districts - as the people of Timisoara have told me - protesting, gathering, shouting in the streets, and then taking shelter, only to return again and again. (...) This was a defiance [against the leadership of Romania at the time, ed.]. I have heard many stories from the days of the Revolution, from many people, sometimes different, even contradictory. The truth is that we are still, I believe, affected by the fact that there are so many contradictions from those days, even within our own community in Timisoara. This courage of the people of Timisoara set in motion the shame of a regime that no longer respected life, freedom, and dignity. This is the courage we honour today," Dominic Fritz said in his address.
The city's mayor emphasised that Timisoara must remain a beacon of freedom, of the fight for humanity, and of European values.
The revolutionaries also met at lunchtime at the Administrative Palace in Timisoara, in an extraordinary commemorative session organised by the Timis County Council. Associations of revolutionaries continue to express their disappointment that their original aspirations have not been fully realised and that society remains divided, with various persistent problems.
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