Competing Regimes of Memory? The European Day of Remembrance in Romania

This paper examines both the transposition of the 2009 European Parliament’s Resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism in Romania and the media coverage of the Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. It shows that the European dimension of 23 August remains blocked in Romania due to the mnemonic saturation of the unresolved pasts that are remembered on this particular day. Despite the direct consequences of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, 23 August 1939 is still perceived as an external historical event, which makes it rather marginal within the national mnemonic repertoire.