Local Council rejects project to dismantle Mircea Vulcanescu commemorative bust

The Bucharest Sector 2 Local Council rejected on Wednesday the draft decision regarding the initiation of procedures to remove the bust of philosopher, writer and politician Mircea Vulcanescu from the sector's St. Stephen Park, Agerpres informs.

According to the referral report signed by Liberal local councilor Silviu Feroiu, Mircea Vulcanescu was tried and convicted by the People's Tribunal in 1945 and 1946, respectively, for war crimes.

"Mircea Vulcanescu was an office holder of the Romanian state, he was part of the Antonescu government from January 1941 to August 1944, during which time he participated in dozens of Ministerial Council meetings that discussed aspects regarding the preparation and concrete decision-making for the extermination of the Jewish and Roma population, for their exclusion from society, and Mircea Vulcanescu had a direct contribution thereto. In his position as undersecretary of state with the Finance Ministry, Mircea Vulcanescu was involved in the National Bank and the Finance Ministry's enforcing the seizure of assets, jewels and money of the Jews deported to Transnistria and contributed to the deportees' fast demise in Transnistria," the document draft argues.

Attending the Local Council meeting, deputy Antonio Andrusceac of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) asserted that Vulcaneascu was a "great Christian and a great Romanian patriot who returned to the country eight wagons of gold" from the USSR, with which the "war efforts against the communist occupiers" could be continued. Andrusceac accused the Elie Wiesel Institute of being "concerned to have Romania's history rewritten" and the cult of the Romanian nation's hero-martyrs demolished. Andrusceac also announced during the debates that if the project is approved, it will be challenged on grounds of legality.

"What we are doing now you should have done before - specifically put the subject up for public debate. This is not optional, but a legal requirement. Secondly - you should have sought all the opinions before putting this project on the agenda. (.. .) The Academy spoke out against this project, as it did in previous years. There is no public debate with any of the actors involved: neither the civil society, nor the Ministry of Culture or the Academy," he said.

In her turn, independent Senator Diana Sosoaca said that approving the project would represent "an act of unculture", "imposture" and "anti-Romanism". She also underscored that the dismantling of the bust does not fall under the competence of Sector 2 authorities, but is for the Bucharest General City Hall to decide, and that the approval of the Culture Ministry and the Romanian Academy's point of view would be necessary beforehand. Diana Sosoaca added that she intends to file a criminal complaint against the initiator of the project, as well as against the Elie Wiesel Institute.

The senator mentioned that Law 127/2017 institutes a national day for honoring the martyrs of communist prisons, and that Mircea Vulcanescu is mentioned in the law's recitals.

"The project tabled to you invokes a legislation from 70 years ago that cannot even be linked to Mircea Vulcanescu's trial, given that he was never convicted for what the Elie Wiesel Institute claims," Sosoaca added.