A former advisor to Băsescu harshly criticizes Nicușor Dan's decision to decorate the war veteran Ion Vasile Banu: “It is extraordinarily ill-advised” / How he argues

“The only message he sends, whether he wants to or not, is 'Heil Hitler!'”, says political science professor Cătălin Avramescu, an expert in the history of Nazism, for the HotNews audience. He vehemently criticized the decision of Nicușor Dan, who decorated Ion Vasile Banu, a soldier from the 13th Division – who fought alongside the troops of Nazi Germany in the Odessa Massacre of 1941. It was the only decoration offered by the president this year, on National Day.

Cătălin Avramescu, professor of Political Science, former ambassador to Finland and former councilor in Cotroceni during the mandate of Traian Băsescu, categorizes as “scandalous and irresponsible” the gesture of Dan nicuşor.

“Ion Vasile Banu was not at the front to defend freedom and democracy. Ion Vasile Banu enlisted in 1939, during the royal dictatorship. He was also a soldier during the national-legionary state and then under the dictator Ion Antonescu,” Avramescu wrote on Facebook.

He explained that the regiment that Vasile Banu was part of was, in turn, part of Division 13. “These units were not fighting for freedom and democracy. They entered the USSR as part of a racial war of extermination ordered by Adolf Hitler.”

Contacted by HotNews, Professor Avramescu emphasized that it is important to make a difference between “national interest” and “war crimes and crimes against humanity”. The campaign from the East – that is, Romania's participation in the Second World War alongside Nazi Germany, under the leadership of Ion Antonescu – “was thought from the very beginning as an extermination campaign”, he recalls.

Avramescu explained, historically, how the Romanian Army did not pursue the national interest at the time, but only the extermination of tens of thousands of people – between 26,000 and 60,000 Jews in Odessa alone on June 22, 1941. He exemplifies the order given at the time by Marshal Ion Antonescu: “Soldiers, I order you: Cross the Prut (…) Be worthy of the honor that history will give you, the Great Army Reich and its unsurpassed commander Adolf Hitler”.

“'Heil Hitler!', that's the message”

Asked what message he thinks the President of Romania is sending when he chooses to decorate Ion Vasile Banu, Avramescu answers briefly: “Heil Hitler!”, that's the message. “Heil Hitler!”.

He then recalls the commemorations in Tâncăbești, which take place every year on November 30, for the legionnaire leader Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. Just on Sunday one of the participants gave the Nazi salute. Such demonstrations are prohibited by law.

“The prosecutor's office did nothing, the gendarmes did nothing. They only protected those who gave the Nazi salute yesterday. Having Corneliu Zelea Codreanu's troit in Tâncăbești is like having a Heydrich monument (no – Reinhard Heydrich, one of the main architects of the Holocaust) in Prague,” added the professor.

“What is there to be proud of as a Romanian and to make your heart beat on the national day?”

Avramescu also published a photo of Ion Vasile Banu, holding a German MP-40, a weapon he says was used by Nazi troops.

Nicușor Dan decorated someone “who was part, and is proud to have been part, of a genocidal campaign. Because you can't say that was a military campaign,” the professor explained.

“The whole action is criminal. How can you glorify it? Because Nicușor Dan not only decorated that man, but says that it is beautiful what happened. Where? At the bend of the Don (no Battle of Stalingrad 1942-1943, where approximately 3 million people died, most of them civilians). What is there for you to be proud as a Romanian and let your heart beat on the national day? On the contrary, you have to hang your head in shame,” he added.

“It is extraordinarily ill-advised”

Avramescu believes that Nicușor Dan must, after this decision, “put ashes on his head” and fire those who advised him. “Instead of limiting himself to such a thing, he explains to us that it is patriotism to fight alongside Hitler's army… Brilliant!”.

How the people who will be decorated are chosen

Asked by HotNews to explain the procedure by which those who will be decorated are chosen, Professor Avramescu, who was a state adviser at the Chancellery of President Traian Băsescu, explained that, first, a report arrives at Cotroceni with a suggestion, which is then approved by an adviser.

The expert claims that such a proposal should have been rejected on the spot – “as you saw Odessa 1941, you know”, he says of the first sign that should have attracted attention.

“Probably because he is extraordinarily ill-advised,” the professor also says about the choice of Nicușor Dan.

HotNews requested a point of view from the Presidential Administration, but also information regarding the decision to decorate Ion Vasile Banu. When we receive the answers, we will publish them.

What President Nicușor Dan said in his announcement

President Nicușor Dan announced that this year, on National Day, only one decoration will be conferred, and it will symbolically go to war veteran Ion Vasile Banu. He decorated the reserve colonel with the Order of Military Virtue in the rank of Knight.

“At 107 years old, Mr. Ion Vasile Banu represents the essence of what it means to love one's country: a man who, at only 21 years old, joined the Romanian Army and fought with dedication for the liberation of Bessarabia in 1941 and on the Don Bend front in 1942. The courage, sacrifice and dignity with which he served his homeland are lessons that oblige us to bow with respect to him”, he said Nicusor Dan.

“The distinction I conferred on him is a gesture of recognition for his exceptional military service during the Second World War, but also for his tireless involvement in the life of the community after the end of the conflict,” the president said.