66.2% of Romanians consider Nicolae Ceaușescu to have been a good leader for Romania, according to a survey conducted by INSCOP Research in partnership with the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile (IICCMER).
The research, dedicated to the phenomenon of post-communist nostalgia, reveals huge discrepancies between historical reality and public perceptions.
If we could turn back time, nostalgics of the Ceaușescu regime would be forced to endure, at least for a week, the cold, hunger, fear of the Securitate, and the humiliation of queuing for a liter of milk.
The results were obtained in July 2025, from a sample of 1,500 individuals, and will be presented in detail on Tuesday at an event organized by IICCMER.
Remus Ștefureac, the general director of INSCOP Research, warns that these figures reflect "a society weakened in the face of informational and cognitive warfare" and emphasizes that nostalgia is not only a natural phenomenon but also the result of active manipulation campaigns.
"However, unimaginable is the intensity of this nostalgia today, 35 years after the fall of communism! With all the failures of the present, with all the social and economic dissatisfactions of a part of the population that amplify the regret for communism, the CATASTROPHIC percentages of the population that mythologize life under communism are not just the result of a natural phenomenon!" writes Remus Ștefureac on Facebook.
According to the survey:
- 66.2% consider Nicolae Ceaușescu to have been a good leader;
- 24.1% say he was a bad leader;
- 7.8% do not know;
- 2% did not respond.
Nostalgia for communism, between myth and manipulation
Ștefureac notes that, despite frustrations related to the present – corruption, social inequalities, poverty – the idealization of the communist past is not only a natural emotional reaction but also a symptom of a collective failure to combat lies with historical truth.
"A campaign of social destabilization, unchallenged by either the state or civil society, has created fertile ground for dangerous myths. This nostalgia risks undermining trust in democracy and can fuel extremism."
"And as a result of this failure, today two-thirds of Romanians believe that Nicolae Ceaușescu (for about 10 years, a veritable star on Facebook and TikTok in professionally produced videos and images strategically disseminated with resources) was a good leader for Romania, and only 24% believe he was a bad leader for Romania."
The golden era of the communist regime seems to manifest itself, in a surreal dimension of perception, precisely in our days when communism seems to be more popular than in its heyday.
The director of INSCOP also highlights the urgent need for public policies to address the real grievances of the population, as well as reforms in education and public communication to restore the connection with historical reality.
"We need concrete measures to combat poverty and corruption, as well as serious historical education. Otherwise, we risk the myths about communism becoming, for a significant part of the population, a substitute for the truth."
It is worth mentioning that "The History of Communism in Romania" has become a mandatory subject in Romanian schools starting from the academic year 2025 – 2026. This subject is dedicated to students in the twelfth grade of day school and the thirteenth grade of evening and reduced frequency education.