Expert Igor Botan said the notion of fascism in Moldova is used with the aim of stigmatizing a political opponent, but juggling with notions and historical events is harmful. He made the statement in the public debate “More frequent use of the notion of ‘fascism’ in internal, external and regional contexts: real and invented motives, goals, dangers and solutions” that was staged by IPN Agency in partnership with Radio Moldova.
“In Moldova, the notion of fascism is used inappropriately. It is stigmatization. The stigma attached to fascism has the most powerful charge now. But the people get used to and understand that this stigma is used to defame the opponent. It’s regrettable that the negative potential of the notion is diminished,” said Igor Botan, who is the executive director of the Association for Participatory Democracy (ADEPT).
The expert underlined that fascism appeared in a particular historical context. For the fascist movement to exist in Moldova, a number of elements must exist, including a dictator. Fascism is based on corporatism and on nationalism and racism. If these components do not exist, we cannot speak about fascism seriously. In Moldova, there are nationalist movements, but there is no racism,” added Igor Botan.
According to the expert, fascism usually appears out of revanchism. There is no such policy in Moldova. A part of the people wants Moldova to unite with Romania, while another part wants the USSR to be restored. But this is not because of revanchism, but because the people got tired of the social problems they face. “Some of our people plead for Moldova’s union with Romania, while others for the restoration of the USSR. Thus, in Moldova there are only nationalist movements,” stated Igor Botan.
He noted that there are always dangers generated by such phenomena, especially because it is common for different movements and options to exist. But it depends on the maturity degree of the political class. “This juggling does no good. It only leads to inappropriate parallels. We must be vigilant. We consider that we do not have fascism, but there are reactions to this virtual phenomenon and we must be attentive to the actions of those who react,” said the expert.
Referring to the Moldovan political class, he said he considers it responsible as it offers different options and its actions are not radical and do not cause concerns.
The debate “More frequent use of the notion of ‘fascism’ in internal, external and regional contexts: real and invented motives, goals, dangers and solutions” is the 29th of the series “Development of political culture in public debates”, organized by IPN together with Radio Moldova and supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany.
