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Monday, October 25, 2004

Romanian ex-king gets 30 million euros for communists' seizure of property

The Romanian government said it has given the country's former King Michael 30 million euros (38 million dollars) to compensate him for the seizure of his property by the former communist regime in 1948.

The government also returned to the ex-sovereign the small castle of Peles near Sinaia, 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Bucharest.

But the former king's lawyer, Adrian Vasiliu, dismissed the amount. "The amount offered by the government and which includes the impressive and luxurious Peles castle, now a national museum, is symbolic," he said. "This compensation amounts to far less than the actual value of the property confiscated by the communists."

In 1999, the former king took legal action in a bid to recover his family's property.

A court later ruled that the 17th-century Savarsin castle, used as a residence by late dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, be restored to the ex-king.

On August 23, 1944 King Michael, aged 23, ordered the arrest of Romanian strongman and Adolf Hitler ally Marshal Ion Antonescu so his country could switch to the Allied camp.
He was subsequently forced to appoint a Communist-dominated government and in 1947 to abdicate and leave the country.
He returned to the country in 2002 and now lives in central Bucharest as a private citizen.

Posted by Iulia Rasoiu : 10/25/2004 10:25:00 am