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
Nicolae Timofti that this policy "must continue" and that his country "has no other future than a European future". Former acting president and speaker of the Parliament of Moldova Mihai Ghimpu called Timofti "...a progressive man, [which] means a lot for the Republic of Moldova." Timofti is married to the lawyer Margareta Timofti and they have three sons: Alexei (born 1977) works as a lawyer for the World Bank in Washington, Nicolae (Nicu) (born 1980) is a sports journalist in Chișinău, and Ștefan (born 1989) studies economics in Chișinău. Nicolae Timofti Nicolae Timofti (; born 22 December 1948 in Ciutulești) is a