Press Release

08/06/2006

Call for establishment of an international research institute for totalitarianism studies. Aldis Kušķis MEP, Tunne Kelam MEP, Vytautas Landsbergis MEP and Christopher Beazley MEP

The speakers at the EPP-ED Study Day "Reunification of European history", which took place today at the European Parliament, are calling for the establishment of an international commission that will assure a thorough and coordinated investigation of the historical and legal aspects of Soviet totalitarianism. For this purpose, an international research institute must be set up. Its findings will provide information to the international community in support of the evaluation of the totalitarian Communist regime as well as its legacy.

The conference speakers were united in their call for a resolution by the European Parliament condemning the crimes committed by the totalitarian communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe.

Estonian MEP Tunne Kelam said: "A clear conclusion from this conference can be summed up in Hans-Gert Poettering's introductory statement: the two totalitarian regimes of the 20th century are equal and they should be similarly denounced. For that it is necessary to adopt a European Parliament resolution condemning totalitarian communism, as well as establishing an international research institute on the matter."

His Latvian colleague Aldis Kušķis MEP, said: "A resolution condemning totalitarian communism was adopted by the EPP Congress in February 2004. We would like to express our gratitude to Hans-Gert Poettering for his personal support and that of the EPP-ED Group. As a democratic policy-maker, which seeks to promote democratic awareness, the European Parliament is expected to endorse the assessment and condemnation of all totalitarian regimes and their crimes".

"Lithuania was occupied by the Red Army and forcefully annexed and incorporated into the Soviet Union. We coped with it. What is to be done now is to annul the consequences of illegal annexation in accordance with the Lithuania-Russia Treaty of 1991-1992. The first step would be to stop the lies about the 'legal annexation'", Landsbergis said on the current situation in Lithuanian-Russian relations.

The concept of "Reunification of European History" underpinned all the debates that took place today at the European Parliament. "We must come to a point where the revelations and facts about the crimes of the Soviet totalitarian regime truly penetrate Western consciousness, thus allowing for a true 'reunification' of the Western and Eastern European way of looking at our common history", Landsbergis concluded.

The overall aim of the Study Day was to contribute to creating a common European awareness about the crimes committed by Communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain in Central and Eastern Europe.

The opening speech was given by Hans-Gert Poettering, Chairman of the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament. The EPP-ED Study Day was coordinated by Sandra Kalniete, former Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Latvia.

Other speakers included Christopher Beazley MEP, Mart Laar, former Prime Minister of the Republic of Estonia, Alfred Erich Seen, Professor emeritus of history of the University of Wisconsin, Sergei Kovalev, Russian historian and President of the Russian Memorial, and Françoise Thom, Professor of Modern History at the Sorbonne. Several speeches are available on request.

More information

For further information:
Aldis Kušķis MEP, +32 2 2845410
Tunne Kelam MEP, +32 2 2845279
Vytautas Landsbergis MEP, +32 2 2845550
Christopher Beazley MEP, +32 2 2845226
Zaneta Vegnere, EPP-ED Press Service, +32 498 970020