Prime Minister Florin Citu on Tuesday informed that he had decided to dismiss Octav Bjoza from the office of Undersecretary of State with the State Secretariat, for recognizing the merits of fighters against the communist regime established in Romania between 1945 and 1989, as such an approach of "questioning the dimensions of the Holocaust" in Romania and trying to blame the Jewish community for "bringing communism in Romania" is "incompatible" with the latter's status as a high official of the Government, according to AGERPRES.
"A democratic and civilized society, such as Romania, remains firmly committed to condemning the Holocaust and any form of ethnic, social or religious stigmatization. It is the unequivocal commitment of the Romanian state, and, as Prime Minister, I will defend it with all my strength. Questioning the dimensions of the Holocaust and trying to bring communism to Romania on the shoulders of the Jewish community is not only an attempt to mystify history but also a dangerous gesture against the democratic values," the Prime Minister said in a statement, according to a press release of the Government.
In the opinion of the Prime Minister, Bjoza attempting to, in his capacity as head of the Association of Former Political Prisoners and Victims of the Romanian Dictatorship, plead for the successors of the war criminals to receive benefits from the Romanian state is an insult to those who suffered because of the horrors of communism and the Holocaust.
The head of Executive approved on Monday the release of Octav Bjoza from the office of Undersecretary of State, the decision being published on the same day in the Official Journal.