Closely Watched Tourism: The Securitate as Warden of Transnational Encounters, 1967–9

Abstract

This article focuses on a particular aspect related to the permeability of the borders of communist Romania during the period 1967–9, that is, the increase in the number of Western citizens visiting Romania, as well as in the number of Romanian citizens travelling to the West. The celebration by the communist regime in Bucharest of International Tourist Year 1967 marked the beginnings of a brief period of increased permeability of communist Romania’s borders. During the same period, the communist authorities learned that a silent opposition to the regime existed as well. Many of those who opposed the regime did not dare to express their discontent publicly. Instead, they decided for the ‘exit’ option, and thus a growing number of Romanian citizens travelling to the West refused to return. Beginning in early 1969, the Securitate devised complex measures to control Western citizens travelling to Romania and to prevent Romanian citizens who travelled to the West from remaining abroad. This paper illustrates the discrepancy between Ceauşescu’s foreign and domestic policy, and contributes to a better understanding of the ‘political mind’ of the Romanian communists during the power-consolidation phase of Ceauşescu’s rule.