The British-Romanian relations during the Cold War

Abstract

The study focuses on the multiple shifts that took place in the relations between Britain and Romania during the Cold War. The imperatives of new internal and international demands faced by Britain and Romania immediately after the Second World War led to tense British-Romanian relations in the 1950s. The diplomatic relations between the two countries changed in the 1970s when Ceauşescu pursued his independent policy, denying any other authority within the communist bloc. How important for Britain was Romanian defiance within the Communist block? Was Britain’s goal to restrict Soviet expansion and possibly make inroads into Moscow's sphere of influence or was it concerned more with the economic aspects of the relationship with Romania? Eventually, British foreign policy towards Romania materialised in strong political and economic support to Ceauşescu. In the late 1980s Britain adopted a more adversarial stance towards Romania, with even the Prince of Wales condemning Ceauşescu’s domestic policy. The British criticism of the 1980s was followed by a new attitude of British policy-makers after the Revolution of 1989 which produced the good relations with Romania that continue to this day.