History of Romania since 1989 unstable coalitions which have been subject to similar allegations. During the period Romania has become more closely integrated with the West, becoming a member of NATO in 2004 and of the European Union in 2007. 1989 marked the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. A mid-December protest in Timișoara against the eviction of a Hungarian minister (László Tőkés) grew into a country-wide protest against the Ceaușescu régime, sweeping the dictator from power. On 21 December, President Nicolae Ceaușescu had his apparatus gather a mass-meeting in Bucharest downtown in an attempt to rally popular support for his regime and publicly condemn
Trial of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu the cameraman, still filming, was seen walking towards the couple's bodies. Elena had fallen to her right while Nicolae had collapsed where he was. A soldier and a medical doctor then began to approach the bodies to confirm that the Ceaușescus had in fact been successfully executed. The cameraman requested that her blood soaked scarf which had fallen across Elena's head be lifted so her face could be clearly filmed. Similarly, while the doctor was confirming Nicolae Ceaușescu's death he was asked to lift up his head for the camera as well. In 1989, Prime Minister Petre Roman told French