Calendar

December 1989

7
German Democratic Republic: Onset of round table talks.
Bulgaria: Opposition groups form the Union of Democratic Forces (Syuz na demokratitschnite sili).
10
Czechoslovakia: Gustav Husák resigns his position as the President; he is replaced by Václav Havel on 29 December.
15
Bulgaria: Amnesty is declared.
16
Romania: Riots ensue after the removal of a popular pastor László Tőkész in Timişoara; in the following days the army uses weapons, tens of people are killed.
21
Romania: Nicolae Ceauşescu organises a rally in support of his policy in Bucharest; the rally turns into a demonstration; fighting breaks out in the capital.
22
Romania: Ceauşescu flees Bucharest; the National Salvation Front (Frontul Salvării Naţionale) takes over.
25
Romania: Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena are executed after they are sentenced to death by a military tribunal.
29
Bulgaria: Abolition of the legal discrimination of the Turkish minority.
Poland: The constitution is changed; provisions guaranteeing the leadership role to the Polish United Workers’ Party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza) are removed; the traditional national emblem (the crowned white eagle) and the name of the state (Republic of Poland) are reinstituted.