Press Release
on the organization of a live-streamed interview with the doctor habilitate of history Valentin Constantinov “Where does nostalgia for dictator and autocratic leaders of the USSR come from and what effects does it produce?”. The interview “Mass deportations as state policy and antidote to nostalgia. Previous and current effects of deportations” was conducted as part of IPN Agency’s project “100 years of USSR and 31 years without USSR: Nostalgia for Chimeras” that is supported by the German Foundation “Hanns Seidel”.
How did the nickname “Stalin” become a praise word? Why are the dictators characterized by violence and terror? Which societies are predisposed to dictators? Why is Vladimir Putin as astute as Joseph Stalin? Why do they consider that the people “lived” well in the time of Brezhnev? Why is the genesis of the dismemberment of the USSR in Stalin’s governance? What is the paradox of 2014 for the Moldovans? Why did the Moldovans remove Voronin and Plahotniuc from power? What cures does history offer for nostalgia for dictators and how good pupils are the Moldovans at present in this respect? Responses to these and other questions can be found in the interview with doctor habilitate of history Valentin Constantinov, a senior scientific researcher at the Institute of History, conducted by Valeriu Vasilică.
Held on 14 October 2022, Valentin Constantinov noted that the Republic of Moldova is yet dependent on the Russian Federation owing to the energy ties with Gazprom but society realizes that the coming closer to the European economic market and values ensures the country’s development.
“Our ties with Russia are perpetuated as we continue buying gas from this country. Are we ready to pay more for gas? Not yet! We haven’t yet realized that we started to live better in 2014, when we began to pay more for gas. It is a paradox but the further we are from Russia from economic viewpoint and the closer we come to the European values, the better we live,” stated Valentin Constantinov.
According to the historian, even if a part of Moldovan society is still nostalgic for the Soviet Union, the people do not accept authoritarian persons to govern them. The higher is the education level of society, the less are the dictatorial practices accepted in government.
“We must take part in elections. Society should propose political parties. We should not go and vote blindly for a party. If so, all those who deal with politics will listen to civil society. Civil society should give a roadmap to the politicians for these to implement it. Education is the antidote to executioners and dictators. In the Republic of Moldova, they tried to borrow models of politicians from outside. Traian Băseascu was a model. Vladimir Putin was another model. A politician can appear by the model of Victor Orban. But when Vladimir Voronin tried to arrogate to himself the post of father of the nation, April 9 came. The Moldovans are not attached to one person only. Our society is not lost irremediably,” stated the historian.
Valentin Constantinov is convinced that the future of the Republic of Moldova is alongside the European community and this can take place only with the plenary contribution of society.
“We are nostalgic for the Soviet times because this idea was imbedded in our minds and because we had the very difficult period of the 1990s. We survived and now started to develop step by step. It does not mean that everything is fine. There are monopoles, there are imposed prices, there are schemes by which some enrich themselves overnight. But by education, protests, political parties, we will definitely succeed,” said the historian.
The interview entitled “Where does nostalgia for dictator and autocratic leaders of the USSR come from and what effects does it produce?” was held by IPN News Agency in the framework of the project “100 years of USSR and 31 years without USSR: Nostalgia for Chimeras” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
The following deliverables were produced:
- Record of live-streamed video (01:06 min.) -
Interviu video cu doctorul habilitat în istorie Valentin Constantinov - YouTube;
- - News item #1 from the interview „Valentin Constantinov: The further we are form Russia, the better we live”; https://www.ipn.md/en/valentin-constantinov-the-further-we-are-form-russia-the-better-7978_1092779.html;
- News item #2 from the interview: “Doctor of history: In Soviet period, propaganda hushed up repressive actions”; https://www.ipn.md/en/doctor-of-history-in-soviet-period-propaganda-hushed-up-repressive-7978_1092780.html ;
- News item #3 from the interview: „Valentin Constantinov: Cult of Stalin’s personality was exposed in ten years”; - https://www.ipn.md/en/valentin-constantinov-cult-of-stalins-personality-was-exposed-in-7978_1092782.html;.
- Interview transcript „Valentin Constantinov: Dictators care only about personal power”- Valentin Constantinov: Dictators care only about personal power. IPN interview | IPN
Valeriu Vasilica, director of IPN