Monuments to Soviet heroes to be protected by state

The Communist MPs Friday added 7 more monuments to the list of monuments protected by the state, most of them being dedicated to Soviet heroes. The opposition was against what triggered a trade of harsh replies on the Legislature's floor, Info-Prim Neo reports. The monuments to the heroes of the Soviet propaganda Grigore Cotovschi and Serghei Lazo, of liberators from the Fascist occupation, of fighters for the Soviet power and of the Komsomol heroes from Chisinau have been added to the list. The monuments to Cotovschi, to Soviet fighters and Komsomolists have been granted the statute of monuments of national importance. The other three got the status of monuments of local importance. The state took under its protection the building Vasile Alecsandri theater and of the monument to Stephen the Great from Balti. Deputy minister for culture Ion Munteanu has said the monuments were selected depending on their artistic value. Christian-Democrat Ion Varta has said the choice of priorities is “distasteful”. “So many monuments of historic importance are left unattended by the state and we take under protection the monuments of the occupational regime which are not jeopardized,” he said. The Liberal Democratic leader Vlad Filat has said the move is “a cynical attitude of the Government and a lack of common sense.” Moldova Noastra MP Gheorghe Susarenco reminded that the Parliament in 1991 banned the activity of the Communist Party and the Soviet-Communist symbols. Susarenco reminded of the decision of the Council of Europe of 1997 banning the Communist and Fascist symbols. Deputy speaker Maria Postoico has told him the CoE recommendations do not refer to monuments but to symbols. The Communist MP Vladimir Dragomir has stated those monuments are part of this nation's history. “No matter how we should paint ourselves, no matter where we hide, we cannot run from our history,” he said. National Liberal Anatol Taranu has asked his Russian-speaking colleagues not to teach the majority ethnic group what their national identity is.