EP will hold an official ceremony to commemorate soviet mass deportations of 14 June 1941

To mark the 84th anniversary of the mass deportations of 14 June 1941, a special commemoration ceremony will be held in the European Parliament on Wednesday, 4 June. The event will continue a tradition initiated in Latvia a few years ago – reading out loud the names of those who were deported.

The official commemoration ceremony honoring the victims of deportation and political repression is being held in the European Parliament at the initiative of the European People's Party. At the invitation of Sandra Kalniete MEP, several representatives of the Latvian Association of Politically Repressed Persons will also attend the ceremony in Brussels.

Sandra Kalniete MEP, EPP Group: "Tens of thousands of people in the Baltic States, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova were subjected to the repressions of Stalin's criminal and inhuman regime. From Latvia alone, more than 15,400 people were deported on June 14, 1941. It is very important that we commemorate them every year in the European Parliament. Especially now, when history is repeating itself in Ukraine. Russia has deported thousands of Ukrainians from the occupied territories, including more than 20,000 children. Their identities are being changed, they are being sent to re-education camps or put up for adoption as a matter of urgency. This is a criminal offense and those responsible must be brought to justice. The international community must exert maximum economic and political pressure on the Kremlin to ensure that these children are returned to their families."

The ceremony in memory of the deportees will take place on 4 June (2.p.m.-4.p.m.) in Brussels, on Solidarity Square in front of the Parliament building. It will be opened by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and the names of those who were deported will be read out by Members of the European Parliament, staff members, victims of political repression themselves, their relatives, compatriots and anyone else who wishes to commemorate the victims of the communist regime.