The Pentagon investigated Nadia’s flee in ‘89

A Pentagon document, declassified for Q Magazine, shows that American agents saw in her gesture and in the echo of her actions that there were going to be significant political changes in Bucharest, just like in all the other East-European communist states.

Nadia Comăneci fled over the border on the night of 27/28 November 1989, in an organized group, giving a major blow to Nicolae Ceaușescu’s communist regime. After escaping from Romania and after crossing Hungary and Austria, the great gymnast took a Pan Am flight to New York, on the 1th of December 1989. There are still questions regarding the operation witch extracted the “queen of Montreal” from Romania. The most important question is if communist authorities were involved in getting a national symbol over the border. “Monitorul de Neamț” has published a few years ago, collected statements according to which a counter-information officer from Cenad Customs, Lieutenant Vasile Stanciu, gave a specific order, under a false pretext, that the border guards should not patrol the border section where Nadia crossed. On this statement, retired General Aurel Rogojan, one of the closest co-workers of the Department of State Security chief, General Iulian Vlad, stated that the mentioned Officers name doesn’t sound familiar, and pointed out that, in that time, “corruption was a large phenomenon within border patrol ranks, and a picket chief could build a villa in 6 months.

Pentagon agents interested in the case

As soon as the news traveled across the globe, Pentagon agents located in Bucharest started to investigate the impact of this act on the Romanian regime especially because the gymnast’s gesture was considered to be related to major changes in the communist space. From the classified document dated by the Department of Defense on December 1989, exclusively declassified for Q Magazine, we found out that an American officer started a conversation, on the subject of Nadia’s escape, with an information source belonging to a very “conservative and closed” sector of the Romanian system. Therefore, we can only speculate that the source was part of the Department of State Security, the Military or the communist nomenclature. Furthermore, the document fails to mention why the gymnast’s case is investigated by Pentagon agents and not the CIA.

“Nadia’s mother received a friend”

Reviewing the Pentagon document, declassified at the request of Q Magazine, American historian Larry Watts, one of the most renowned American specialist in Romanian affairs, but also an expert in information services, considers that this is a report on a conversation between a Romanian official and a US Embassy representative in Bucharest. “I can’t seem to find any clue that the document is from the military attache, but it could be. Also, it could be from someone else in the Embassy who talked with a Romanian official at a reception or in another semi-public space, report that was later received by the military attache”, said Larry Watts.

Why was the
Pentagon and not the CIA interested by this subject? General Aurel Rogojan offers a perspective from the highest level of the Security at that time. “The FBI and the Department of Immigrations were entitled to make inquiries. The CIA – in the extent of organizing the leave… Nadia’s mother received a friend from the outside, who arranged, beyond the border, the media spectacle with the help of Hungarian services.” says General Aurel Rogojan. At the same time, Larry Watts doesn’t see the Pentagon’s interest on Nadia, but it’s interested on “the Romanian’s official attitude on human rights and regime change”.

Who is the American’s source?

Although he belonged to a closed environment and was close-fisted in offering information or commentaries regarding the regime’s politics, the Romanian source had become suddenly detached to declare, starting from Nadia’s leave, “the people should have the freedom to leave and return to the country when they please and this right should not be restricted by the government”. The American agent even highlighted in his report that his source wouldn’t have made such allegations three or six months ago, and certainly not in a random location which belongs to the institution that employed him or in a semi-public place, as we can conclude from the agent’s commentary. These very affirmations have made the Department of Defense agent to become very attentive. Basically, the American agent transmitted to Washington that the whole discussion is a clue that “Romania is also embracing the new democratic ideology and glasnost, just like the other east-block states”.

General Aurel Rogojan, issued a hypothesis, without going on record, that the Romanian source could have been the deputy minister of defense in 1989. “I’m guessing it could have been a meeting between the military attache and Victor Stănescu, or another military official. Stănescu stated that he had a strong and constant connection with the military attache. With a source like that, what else could he need? The general context of the conversation shows that the speaker is of the same level and is familiar with the topic, only Stănescu having discussed with Moscow’s agents at Balaton”, said General Rogojan. On the other hand, Larry Watts has another hypothesis. “Judging by how it looks, I suspect Silviu Brucan, who has taken steps to inform the Americans, but I don’t have any proof”, said the American historian.

Romania joins “Glasnost”

It’s interesting to observe how a US agent reports the change to “glasnost” in Eastern Europe. This term, along with “perestroika”, was launched by Mihail Gorbaciov, after he took the power, in 1985, in USSR. With the help of “glasnost” and “perestroika”, Mihail Gorbaciov launched a policy of transparency and economic rebuild meant to reform the USSR. If the US Department of Defense agent specifically indicated that term, we can conclude that the Pentagon that the 1989 political changes in the communist block were tied to the Soviet Union. This would explain the Department of Defense’s interest in every clue from communist block, and the great Romanian gymnast’s escape, strongly publicized in the West was a very important topic to follow.

“The great game was a peaceful transition”

The respective argument is closely analyzed by Larry Watts and General Aurel Rogojan for Q Magazine. “Making reference to <<glasnost>> could represent, for the United States,  the tendency to see everything that happened in the last two years of communism through the vision of the soviet leader”, states Larry Watts. He also declares that “the great game was a peaceful transition, and the US concentrated it’s attentions on the North side, especially on East Germany and Poland, and afterwards on Hungary”. At the same time, the American researcher states that the “glasnost” reference in the Pentagon document could show, in fact, the Romanian communist official’s preferences. General Aurel Rogojan is even more explicit in presenting the ‘80 American-Soviet agreement from the Security’s perspective. “The argument must not surprise. The agreement was make about two or three years before”, states the former chief of staff of General Iulian Vlad.

Starting from the Nadia Comaneci case, the American agent foresaw that Romania was “soon” going through changes. In Bucharest, after General Aurel Rogojan’s reports, the official conclusion was that the event was set up to be an image strike to the regime. Today, Larry Watts doesn’t see anything special in the “soon” part of the document, mainly because in mid December ‘89 Romania was the only East-European communist state which has not changed its leadership.

Just a few days from the Pentagons report, demonstrations started, first in Iasi, followed by a revolt in Timisoara, so that the communist regime would fall on 22 December 1989 after the Bucharest demonstrations, and Nicolae Ceaușescu was going to be executed on Christmas day.

The Pentagon’s document

Summary: Nadia Comaneci’s flight to the West is saw as the result of the Government’s restrictive policy.(…) the support for raising individual rights is a clue to the actual tendencies regarding Romania and it’s alignment to other countries from the eastern communist block in an effort to move to democracy.

Text: (…) talking about Nadia Comaneci’s recent flight from Romania, (…) her actions were understandable and quite justified by the circumstances. The person who condemned her for this whole affair was also the person which denied her request to trains and work outside Romania in the first place. Despite the fact that she was a member with great privileges in the Romanian society (…) position outlined by the fact that she had her own villa(not an apartment, but a villa), when she was denied the opportunity to work outside Romania, her decision to take action became very strong. What should have been done, according to (…) was to let her leave, to do her job and to come back as soon as she was done.(…) it continued that the whole population should have the liberty to leave and come back to the country when they see fit and not be restricted by the government.

Commentaries: (…) it’s surprising in two issues: (1) Through that he wished to express a strong support for individual freedoms and (2) Through that he wished to speak against government policies in such an open manner. Six months ago, or even three months ago, this thing could have never happened. That this thing happened when and where it happened indicates the major opening in a very conservative and closed sector of the Romanian society. (…) if the accuracy of these opinions reflects a significant part of the Romanian people, the eastern block countries opening to democracy and glasnost could soon be extended to Romania.