The "Free Europe - Here" Project

Free Europe - Here is a project initiated by the “Romanian Institute for Recent History” (IRIR) in cooperation with the former members of the RFE (Romanian Desk) team. Its aim is to produce a digital copy of RFE's Romanian broadcasting archive.

The U.S. financed Radio Free Europe has been Romania’s most important media phenomenon until 1989, and has played a decisive role in the recent history of this country. The premises for abolishing the totalitarian rule and embarking on the road to freedom and democracy in Romania are – to a great extent – the result of RFE’s broadcasts to this country. Launched in 1951, the broadcasting to Romania culminated in 1989 and was discontinued in August 2008.

The history of Romania in the second half of the last century and the tribulations of the Romanian society under the communist rule cannot be studied and understood without Radio Free Europe. RFE’s broadcasting archives (program scripts and tapes) are at the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California, thousands of miles away. Because of this, the archives are in fact out of reach for the people in Romania. A digital copy would make the archives easily accessible for all those interested in studying it.

RFE’s broadcasts have been the major source of uncensored information, pertinent analysis, freely expressed opinion and, last but not least, of hope for the Romanian people throughout the Cold War. They have been described as the oxygen that allowed Romanians to breath and resist under communism. RFE has saved lives and influenced destinies. It was the greatest nightmare of Ceaușescu and his Securitate. Because of this, RFE’s Romanian Desk had its injuries and losses. In 2001, the Romanian State realized it would be appropriate to pay tribute to the importance and contribution of Radio Free Europe. President Ion Iliescu handed medals and diplomas to the RFE staff “as a sign of the Romanian people’s lasting gratitude and appreciation” (President Iliescu’s speech on Nov. 30, 2001).