Editor
Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper) – To observe the Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, Vice-President for Values and Transparency, Věra Jourová, Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, and Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, issued statements.
What Did EU Commissioners Say About the Legacy of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?
They state that on 23 August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union inscribed the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, arranging the stage for Nazi and Soviet violence and occupation throughout Europe and allowing the adversaries to carve out spheres of affect in Eastern Europe.
How Does the EU Plan to Preserve Historical Memory of Totalitarian Crimes?
“This day, 85 years later, we honour and pay tribute to those that fell sufferer to totalitarian regimes all over the world, to the brave women and men who risked and misplaced their lives to combat towards oppressive powers, and to those that proceed to face towards such regimes as we speak. It is crucial for us to protect historic reminiscence and bear in mind the horrors of totalitarian crimes as a way to come to phrases with the previous and guarantee it doesn’t repeat itself.”
Further, they emphasised that Democracy is an funding we will’t take without any consideration. It must be always stimulated. “In latest years we’ve witnessed it being focused by forces who want to unravel the material of our values. We have additionally seen at our borders a brutal struggle of aggression towards Ukraine.
Moreover, Commissioners contended that: “No one ever once more ought to undergo beneath a totalitarian regime. In May this yr, Europeans elected their new representatives to the European Parliament, giving them a transparent mandate to proceed to guard the elemental values upon which the European Union was constructed. Only empowered by unity and respect in the direction of one another, our historical past and views for the long run we will proceed to uphold democracy, rule of regulation, peace, and freedom that lie on the core of this Union.”
What Role Does the EU Play in Funding Projects for Remembrance and Education?
In 2009 the EU Parliament assumed a decision calling for the ‘proclamation of 23 August as a Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian governments, to be commemorated with pleasure and impartiality’. Since then, the Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and dictatorial regimes has been celebrated every single day throughout the EU, holding lively the reminiscence of the victims.
The European Commission funds tasks throughout Europe that deal with the historical past of totalitarian crimes and promote remembrance. Building on the Europe for Citizens agenda 2014-2020, the brand new Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme backs initiatives that promote remembrance of the causalities and penalties of totalitarian regimes, in reality of Nazism, but additionally fascism, Stalinism and different totalitarian communist regimes.
