Petre Roman is a Romanian engineer and politician who was Prime Minister of Romania from 1989 to 1991, when his government was overthrown by the intervention of the miners led by Miron Cozma in the September 1991 Mineriad. Although regarded as the first Romanian prime minister since 1945 who was not a communist or communist sympathiser, he was a socialist. He was also the president of the Senate from 1996 to 1999 and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2000.
Roman in 1989
Petre Roman speaking to the crowd in Bucharest in late December 1989, during the Romanian Revolution.
Roman (right) with FSN members Ion Iliescu (centre) and Dumitru Mazilu (left) on 23 December 1989, one day after the formation of the FSN.
The mineriads were a series of protests and often violent altercations by Jiu Valley miners in Bucharest during the 1990s, particularly 1990–91. The term "mineriad" is also used to refer to the most significant and violent of these encounters, which occurred June 13–15, 1990. During the 1990s, the Jiu Valley miners played a visible role in Romanian politics, and their protests reflected inter-political and societal struggles after the Romanian Revolution.
Bucharest meeting February 1990
Association of Victims of the Mineriads
Protests during the February 1990 Mineriad in the Victoria Palace, Bucharest
Bucharest meeting February 1990
