The Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization condemns the invasion of Ukraine, calls for an increase in the support offered refugees, and stands in solidarity with those within the Russian Federation protesting the ongoing war
Romania shares the longest border with Ukraine among the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Romanians have lived through their own historical suffering, and we cannot remain indifferent to the plight now experienced by the Ukrainian people. It is time to show solidarity with the refugees arriving in our country and support those continuing to fight in Ukraine. We salute the decision of the Romanian authorities of harbouring students and professors from Ukraine, and we are launching an appeal to intensify cooperation with the academic environment in our neighbouring country. At the same time, we stand in solidarity with those that are currently facing repression in Russia, by protesting the ongoing war.
Since Thursday, February 24th 2022, we have been faced with a war of aggression that replicates, in detail, the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and Communist Russia 83 years ago.
For Romanians, the meeting between President Vladimir Putin and the members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation bore a striking resemblance to Nicolae Ceaușescu’s convocation of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party 33 years ago, on December 21st-22nd 1989, during which he ordered the army to open fire on the peaceful protesters in Romania.
Romania, alongside the other countries of Central and Eastern Europe that have lived through the experience of Communism and of Soviet dominion, has watched Russia’s transformation into a revisionist power, one that aims to achieve a 19th-century agenda using 21st-century tactics and methods, with great concern over the past 15 years.
Towards the democratic states of the former Communist bloc born from the peaceful revolutions of 1989-1990 and the dissolution of the USSR, the Russian Federation has increasingly acted as a revisionist power by contesting our demand to be allowed to have our own historical experiences. It has claimed a privileged position in delineating our options for regional and global security. It has employed a variety of methods, from energy blockades and politically-motivated investments to bribery and manipulation through the media, with the aim to achieve its interests and reverse the trans-Atlantic orientation of Central and Eastern Europe.
Russia’s military actions in Ukraine are not justifiable by any historical, political, economic, military or humanitarian arguments. The collapse of the Soviet Union came not from an external attack, but through the tremendous manifestations of the Russian people and the democratically-expressed will of the Baltic nations, those in Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia.
It is the solemn right of every people to decide their own fate, and any foreign military interventions must be condemned in the strongest possible terms.
Emeritus Professor Emil Constantinescu
President of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Levant Culture and Civilization
