The invasion of Czechoslovakia marked something of a turning point in Romania's relations with COMECON and the Warsaw Pact. The Soviet enunciation of the so-called Brezhnev Doctrine—the concept that the protection of socialism in any communist state is the legitimate concern of all communist states—was intended as a clear warning to the Ceausescu regime.
Pressures mounted on Romania to cooperate more fully in the Warsaw Pact and to agree to a supranational planning body within the framework of COMECON. Economic conditions as well as the political and military pressures pushed the Ceausescu regime toward closer cooperation with COMECON, although the Romanians continued to resist the Soviet efforts toward economic integration.
As a result of these pressures, the 1968-70 period was one of relative passivity for the Romanians in foreign affairs, although the period was marked by several important events, including the visit of President Richard M. Nixon to Romania in August 1969 and the long-delayed signing of the friendship treaty with the Soviet Union in July 1970. By early 1971 the Ceausescu regime again became more assertive of its independent line in foreign policy.
According to the 1965 Constitution, the foreign policy of the country is based on strict respect for the principles of national independence and sovereignty, equality of rights, noninterference in internal affairs, and interstate relations based on mutual advantage. The Constitution declares the nation's desire to maintain friendly and fraternal relations with all socialist states as well as to promote friendship and cooperation with states of other sociopolitical systems. Participation in international organizations is directed toward the furthering of peace and international understanding.
Spokesmen for the regime have repeatedly asserted these principles as the only acceptable basis for relations between states both within and outside the world communist movement. In contrast to the Soviet position that socialism can only be fully realized by transcending national forms, Romanian policy gives primary emphasis to the distinct requirements of the nation. At the same time, however, Romania recognizes the duties of each socialist state toward cooperative and mutually advantageous relations with all socialist nations and fraternal communist parties.
In keeping with these principles the PCR has rejected the so-called Brezhnev Doctrine of limited sovereignty of socialist states. Instead, regime spokesmen have asserted that within the socialist system all Marxist-Leninist parties are equal and have the exclusive right to determine appropriate solutions for their own problems and manage their own affairs. Romanian policy maintains that relations between socialist states must be based on equal rights, complete trust, mutual respect, and fraternal cooperation. In defending the country's policies, PCR leaders have repeatedly argued that, because the construction of communism is being carried out under a great variety of conditions, there will inevitably be different opinions regarding the forms and procedures employed as well as different points of view regarding international problems. Such differences, however, should not affect relations between socialist states or the unity of the socialist movement.
In response to Soviet calls for socialist solidarity, a ranking member of the PCR Standing Presidium declared, "it would be unrealistic to think that fourteen socialist countries spread over three continents, each with its specific characteristics, should show themselves strictly identical in the building of a new society." Additional party statements insisted that each country must be allowed to apply the principles of Marxism-Leninism to its own particular conditions and that no general line for all parties could be established. In adjusting Marxism-Leninism to national needs each party must be able to make its own unique contribution to the enrichment of the entire communist movement.
During the negotiations for the renewal of the friendship treaties with the other Warsaw Pact countries, the Ceausescu government repeatedly stressed that its own formula for developing international relations with noncommunist nations was based on the same principles as those applied to socialist states and that Romania was open to the establishment of such relations "without regard for difference in the social order." A party spokesman asserted that the country's foreign relations are not determined by short-term circumstances that are valid at one moment and superseded the next but by policies directed at long-term cooperation in all fields of common interests.
PCR policy has sought to support the country's independent political stance by increasing its economic independence. This has led to the rejection of COMECON attempts to integrate the economies of its member states and to establish a division of labor among them. Instead, the PCR has followed a policy aimed at the industrialization of the country, based on the proposition that an expanded industrial base is what is most needed for Romania's overall economic development.