Voda: Concert at the Heart of Chisinau on 15 July Is an Insult to Collective Memory

The government considers the concert held by politician Renato Usatii in the center of Chisinau on 15 July to be an “insult to the collective memory” of the people. This was announced at a press conference on Wednesday by government spokesman Daniel Voda, according to infotag.md. He argued that this event was held next to the “train of pain” – an exhibition organized by the government in the central square, dedicated to the mass deportations of the 1940s. Voda also commented on the participation of Russian singer Leonid Agutin in the concert. “The fact that an artist is not on the sanctions list does not mean that the state encourages their presence on its territory. On the contrary, we condemn the use of culture as a tool of propaganda, which we have seen before. Especially on the part of artists from the Russian Federation – an aggressor country that continues its brutal war against Ukraine, which Chisinau has strongly condemned...,” he said. Voda emphasized that permission to hold the concert was granted by the Chisinau City Hall, and “it must provide explanations” as to how such an event was allowed to take place next to the exhibition “Train of Pain”, dedicated to mass deportations in Soviet Moldavia. “The exhibition dedicated to the hundreds of thousands of Moldovans who suffered as a result of deportations deserves a place in the Great National Assembly Square. And the government will continue to inform the general public (about the deportations),” Voda said, calling on “all citizens of good will” to visit the exhibition.