U.S. Accuses Romania Front of Intimidation

In a formal diplomatic protest, the Bush Administration has accused Romania’s interim government of a campaign of political intimidation reminiscent of the totalitarian methods of deposed dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, it was announced Tuesday.

“We are deeply troubled by what appears to be active intimidation of legitimate organizations which are seeking a legitimate, independent role in Romania’s new political order,” State Department spokeswoman Margaret Tutwiler said.

She said the U.S. Embassy in Bucharest handed a protest note to the government “and asked that the right of all political groups to peaceful protests . . . be fully protected.”

It was the harshest U.S. criticism of any Eastern European government since a wave of anti-Communist reform swept the region last year. The Administration complained last week that the Romanian regime appeared to be trying to stifle dissent, but the tone was softer.

Secretary of State James A. Baker III had considered visiting Bucharest next month as part of a trip surrounding meetings with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze in Moscow Feb. 8-9. But a visit--a traditional signal of U.S. support--is now out of the question, a senior State Department official said.

“It looks a lot different now than it did 10 days ago,” the official said.

The Administration has sent Richard Schifter, assistant secretary of state for human rights and humanitarian affairs, to Bucharest to show concern for the regime’s deteriorating human rights performance.

The National Salvation Front, the self-appointed government that took power when Ceausescu was ousted Dec. 22 and executed three days later, has imposed strict limitations on demonstrations by opposition political groups. In addition, the front organized a counterdemonstration earlier this week that ended with violent attacks on the headquarters of opposition political parties.

“We will be greatly saddened if the hope for democracy and human rights, won at such great human cost in Romania, were to be lost by a retreat to the habits and practices of an old totalitarian era that should be completely discarded,” Tutwiler said.