Authors

Discussion

Dealing with a ‘Yalta’ syndrome, the Romanian communist regime always looked to have a part into the Third World in order to overcome the influence of the superpowers. After the détente of the Cold War in Europe, the Third World became the battleground for the US and the USSR. In this situation, acting in this world represented for Romania an opportunity to gain a voice in an international organization, such as the United Nations.

This study aims to identify the African and Latin American countries which have received help from the Romanian communist authorities, being beneficiaries of the Humanitarian Aid in the 80s. Secondly, we will investigate the Romanian interventions at the United Nations regarding the humanitarian problems. Thirdly, we will try to establish if this policy was intended to gain external legitimacy, in a context where the Romania’s internal repression overshadowed its foreign activity.

Our research is based mostly on archival sources provided by the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as documents from the Romanian National Archives. All of them have information about the decisions taken by the Romanian leadership and how they were implemented by the Romanian diplomacy at UN.