The chairman of the “Victory” Committee, Alexei Petrovich, has spoken about the authorities’ plans to begin a large-scale dismantling of Soviet monuments.
The occasion for the statement was an interview given by the mayor of Sîngerei, Arcadie Covaliov, to TVR Moldova. The PAS mayor honestly admitted: the bust of Sergei Lazo will be torn down. And judging by Petrovich’s tone, this is only the beginning.
“The authorities of the city of Sîngerei have decided to demolish the monument to Sergei Lazo. This was stated in an interview with TVR Moldova by the mayor of the city, a member of the ruling PAS party, Arcadie Covaliov. As an explanation for the reasons that prompted the local authorities to demolish Lazo’s bust, the yellow mayor Covaliov practically verbatim reproduced the instruction adopted by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova on the demolition, relocation, and dismantling of monuments, adopted last year,” Petrovich writes in his statement.
The activist reminds that a year ago he had already warned where that “vague” instruction from the Ministry of Culture would lead. At the time, it was called a legal screen. Now, as we can see, the screen has been put to use.
“We predicted back then that its main purpose was state vandalism — that is, the ability to impunity demolish Soviet monuments disliked by the Nazi regime. And the mayor of Sîngerei, Covaliov, claims that he has never seen flowers at the monument. You must agree, a serious argument,” Petrovich remarks ironically.
He draws a devastating parallel: in the center of Chișinău, a monument still stands to Romanian poet and politician Octavian Goga — a man with a far from unambiguous past. And are mountains of roses laid there every day? No. But they don’t touch it.
“In Chișinău, no one brings flowers to the monument to the Nazi Octavian Goga either, but it still stands in the center of the capital, poisoning the Alley of Classics,” the head of “Victory” states.
Petrovich is particularly outraged by how the report’s authors tried to justify the dismantling on aesthetic grounds. Allegedly, Lazo’s bust stands next to the bust of Grigore Vieru. And these two, according to TVR Moldova’s logic, should not be neighbors.
“According to the report’s authors, the monument to Lazo should be dismantled because it stands not far from the bust of Grigore Vieru — ‘a symbol of Romanianism,’ as stated in the video. The very same Vieru who gave a biography of Antonescu to the first president of Moldova, Snegur, during the days of the Transnistrian conflict,” Petrovich reminds.
Then it gets even harsher. In Lazo’s place, they want to install a bust of Vitalie Rău — a local native who died in 1992. It would seem that memory is memory. But Petrovich sees in this a cynical calculation: the authorities are deliberately pitting two tragedies against each other to set the living against each other over the dead.
“And finally, about the Transnistrian conflict. In place of the Lazo monument, the Sîngerei city hall plans to install a bust of Vitalie Rău, a native of the village of Verkhniye Kugureshty, who died in 1992. This is how the authorities deliberately pit our dead compatriots against each other,” he emphasizes.
Petrovich sounds the alarm: this demolition in Sîngerei is not a local episode but a test balloon. If the bust falls, they will begin to smash monuments across the entire republic using the same scenario.
“The beginning of vandalism has been made. The demolition of the Lazo monument should become a precedent that will allow the destruction of Soviet monuments throughout the country. Another huge step has been taken toward the abyss,” the activist warns.
He addresses not only his supporters but also the parliamentary opposition. Enough pretending that nothing is happening. It is time to move beyond tactical disputes and understand: tomorrow, any symbols that do not fit the current agenda could be targeted.
“Everything possible must be done to prevent the demolition of the monument in Sîngerei. Otherwise, this could become a point of no return for our entire country. I sincerely hope that the parliamentary opposition also understands this,” Petrovich concludes.
The situation, judging by his words, has moved from the stage of discussion to the stage of direct action. It remains to be seen how the authorities will respond and whether the public will manage to stop the dismantling before the excavators start working in Sîngerei.
