The President of Russia Vladimir Putin wants to change world order, but set off on this road without an ideology, with an economy in decline and almost without an army, political pundit Igor Boțan stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency. According to him, a large part of the world is now hostage to the imperial ambitions of Putin and the solution for the Republic of Moldova is to remain consistent on its path of European integration.

The expert said the current army of the regime of Putin is the successor of the Soviet army, which was used as a coercive power keeping instrument.

“Why did Stalin liquidate the elite of the Soviet army? Because he realized that these elite started to turn into bourgeoisie, but the flame of communism cannot be taken all over the world with people who have merits. They should be liquidated, while those who liquidate promote new persons who want to assert themselves and have the feeling of gratitude to those who promote them. Post-Soviet Russia lived for 30 years in peace and the leader of this Russia at a certain moment asked: “what is our role in the world?”. Putin comes and says that they want another world order as the existence of a hegemon that controls all the processes does not suit them. The Red Army turned into Russia’s Army that became an instrument in the hands of a leader who during one quarter of century has governed Russia and probably got tired and now transmits the idea of a new world order to the mankind. Putin’s drama is that he does not have an ideology or an economic force or even an army. And we are hostage to this situation,” stated the permanent expert of IPN’s project.

According to Igor Boțan, the celebration of the Red Army on February 23 is a utopian idea as the Bolshevik army in 2018 didn’t win victories, as they assert. On the contrary, the treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed on March 3, 1918 ended Russia’s participation in World War I. The terms of the treaty were harsh for Russia and the country lost important territories. Russia made concessions because its army became considerably weaker.

“When we speak about the Read Army’s cruelty, we must realize that this cruelty hasn’t been irrational. The Red Army was constituted to defend the revolutionary conquests and these cruelties were manifested in that defense process,” said Igor Boțan.

He noted that amid the security crisis in the region, the Republic of Moldova needs to consistently continue its European course, to insist on development and strengthening of the democratic norms.

“On November 13, 2002, we declared the European integration as an objective by presidential decree. We must continue working in this regard. We must study our history and create a space in which the ideas compete. We should build our future ourselves,” stated Igor Boțan.

The public debate entitled “What did we celebrate and why did we celebrate on February 23?” was the fourth installment of IPN’s project “Impact of the Past on Confidence and Peace Building Processes” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.