The fifth edition of the National Congress of Romanian Historians, entitled '21st-Century Historiography: Developments, Challenges and Opportunities', opened on Wednesday in the Magna Hall of the Faculty of Law at the University of Bucharest. The prominent figures attending the event emphasised the importance of history and historical research in an international context marked by crises, conflicts and social and political changes.

The Rector of the University of Bucharest, University Professor Marian Preda, highlighted the important role historians have to play at a time when authoritarianism and populism are on the rise in several countries.

'Your role, in this global context of crisis and radical change in reality and in society, is, I believe, all the more important, particularly in contexts characterised by the assault of authoritarianism in many countries around the world, by the assault of populism as a response to the successive crises facing humanity and, of course, Romania as well, and by the assault of aggressive and incoherent mediocrity, which promotes and relativises facts, truth and evidence, while advancing all sorts of alternative narratives labelled as post-truth. In all these contexts, it is extremely important to hear the voice of specialists, to hear your voice, to hear your arguments, to discuss and decide what paths should be followed, both in education and in the research and publication of history - the history of communities, professions and institutions, national history, the history of Romanians and, indeed, the history of Europe and global history,' Marian Preda said.

The Rector called for 'the promotion of historical truth based on evidence' and warned of the risk that public discourse could become dominated by populist and demagogic rhetoric.

Professor Sorin Costreie, Presidential Adviser for Education and Research and coordinator of the CIVIS Alliance at the University of Bucharest, stressed the need for young people to understand the past and be able to interpret the realities of the present correctly.

'For example, today we are haunted by nostalgia for communism and, more generally, by an increasingly tolerant view of totalitarianism. All of this stems from young people's lack of knowledge about what actually happened, and it is essential that we know our past so that we do not repeat the mistakes of it,' Costreie said.

The interim Minister of Education and Research, Professor Mihai Dimian, pointed out that the role of historians 'is not diminishing, but becoming stronger (...) at a time when history is frequently used as a geopolitical instrument, military conflicts are accompanied by conflicts over memory and historical interpretations, and borders, identities, territories and even peoples' right to determine their own future are being contested by invoking the past'.

Academician Ioan-Aurel Pop, a member of the Romanian Academy and former president of the institution, emphasised the role of History as a school subject and criticised the reduction in the number of hours allocated to it in the school curriculum.

Welcoming remarks at the opening of the National Congress of Romanian Historians were also delivered by Academician Wilhelm Danca, Vice-President of the Romanian Academy; Academician Victor Spinei, President of the Academy's Section of Historical Sciences; Professor Bogdan Murgescu, Vice-Rector of the University of Bucharest; and Associate Professor Matei Gheboianu, Dean of the Faculty of History at the University of Bucharest.

The congress is being organised from Wednesday to Saturday by the Faculty of History of the University of Bucharest, under the auspices of the Romanian Academy and the National Committee of Romanian Historians, with the support of the Ministry of Education and Research. It is affiliated with the International Committee of Historical Sciences (ICHS).

The event brings together 600 participants - historians and researchers from Romania, the Republic of Moldova and abroad -for four days of round-table discussions, panels and a session dedicated to poster presentations. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Daniel Popescu; EN - writing by: Cristina Zaharia)