The Party of Socialists on May 9 staged the Victory March and the “Undying Regiment” event on the occasion of Victory Day. According to the police, the event involved 10,000-15,000 people, while the Socialist leader Igor Dodon said there were about 20,000 participants.

The attendees marched from the Great National Assembly Square of Chisinau to the Memorial Complex “Eternity”. They chanted “Thanks for peace!”, “We remember and are proud!”, “Victory!”, “No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten” etc.  

Igor Dodon said that our grandparents and great-grandparents ensured our peace. Some people should perceive the essence of what happened 76 years ago and should come and discuss with war veterans.

He avoided answering journalists’ questions as to the costs incurred for organizing the event and why he didn’t come to the event together with Vladimir Voronin, the president of the Party of Communists with which the Socialists are expected to form an electoral bloc for the July 11 snap parliamentary elections.

A Victory March was also mounted in Bălți. Police estimated that the event involved about 1,000 people. Taking part in the event, the mayor of Bălți Renato Usatîi, who heads the electoral bloc “Renato Usatîi”, told the journalists that the veterans of the Great Patriotic War could not take part in this march, but they offered us peace at the cost of their lives, the lives of their friends and close people. “We, the current generation, must take care of the veterans who are yet alive, as they are a living memory of those events, of the bloody battles owing to which we live in peace. We must do so that this memory is transmitted from generation to generation as this makes them better, more responsible. We must do our best for the veterans to feel heroes throughout the year, not only on May 9,” said the mayor of Bălți.

According to Renato Usatîi, each year on May 9 the World War II veterans receive by 10,000 lei that is allocated from the reserve fund of the Bălți mayor’s office and from his own resources. In Bălți, there are now 32 World War II veterans.

Asked by journalists if it’s appropriate to stage a march in times of a pandemic, Renato Usatîi said he asked that all the participants should wear masks and should maintain social distancing. He said he does not agree with the position of some of the politicians, who say the protests in front of the Constitutional Court are ok, while the Victory March is not ok.

Renato Usatîi also said that a COVID-19 vaccination center will be opened in Bălți on May 11 for all those from northern Moldova who want to get a vaccine.