I could start in a variety of ways, but I'd like to start by thanking Emil Constantinescu for everything he did and achieve during his presidency.
Emil Constantinescu, for those who don't know, was Romania's third president and the first democratic president. He took the country after a dark period for Romania, which had recently transitioned from a communist country to one that had a neo-communist leader seeking closer ties with Moscow.
Before becoming Romania's president, Emil Constantinescu was a geology professor, the rector of the University of Bucharest, and a major intellectual. He was a member of the PNŢCD and was nominated by the CDR as its candidate for Romanian President in 1992 and 1996. The day he won in 1996 marked the first peaceful transfer of power in Romania since 1989.
Nonetheless, during his four-year term, he dealt with a wide range of issues, from corruption perpetrated by various mafias (e.g., the coffee mafia, the bank mafia, and so on) to inflation caused by the privatization process, which was riddled with bureaucracy and increased unemployment and poverty for Romanians in the short term. He even had to deal with two Mineriads that happened in 1999. He was involved in the reform of the army and intelligence services by reaching out to and receiving assistance from countries that were already well-developed. He improved relations between the United States and Romania, as evidenced by Bill Clinton's speech in Romania and his speech in front of the United States Congress, which few East European leaders have had the opportunity to do, and he received funds from the United States Congress to help the development of the country. He also received funding from Kuwait, but the funds never arrived in Romania, and the asphalting of country roads was never completed because the new vice president who succeeded Constantinescu, Adrian Năstase, was uninterested in it. He also helped Romania to be accepted into NATO and Europe.
He was nicknamed on a summit the European version of Nelson Mandela. Now after so many years I can say with certainty that if Constantinescu had not been involved in Romanian politics, Romania would not have had the opportunities that it now has. I say this because Iliescu (the former president) even attempted to sign a pact with Russia that would make Romania ineligible for NATO membership and European trust.
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