Bucharest – Charles de Gaulle Statue

As with many things in the world, this puzzles me. The statue is located in Charles de Gaulle Square, a name that it was given in the late 1990s, having previously been known as Aviators’ Square (the Metro station still has that name) and before that, General Stalin Square and Hitler Square. The statue was installed in late September 2006 and was designed by Mircea Spătaru, standing 4.6 metres tall (the statue, not the designer).

I understand that the statue was placed here because of the name of the square, but I’m puzzled why they chose Charles de Gaulle in particular when they were renaming the square. The text on the statue itself doesn’t really help me here.

The statue feels just a bit basic looking to me, but it’s probably modernist and I rarely understand such things. Anyway, it’s quite a spectacle and something a little different.