TALLINN - Russia must recognise that the Soviet Union illegally occupied the Baltic states if it wants to have good-neighbourly relations with the European Union, European Commission vice-president Guenter Verheugen said Monday.
"For the European Union, it is important that our relations are based on truth," Verheugen told reporters in the Estonian capital.
"We should not hide the fact that the three Baltic states were occupied against their will for a long time."
"The accession of central and east European countries, including Estonia, has already started to change and continues to change the way Western Europe understands the history of our continent, especially recent history," Verheugen said.
"We never fully recognised that crimes were committed in which Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians were the victims," he said.
The three Baltic states were occupied by Stalin's Soviet Union following a Nazi-Soviet pact of 1939 and were forcibly assimilated into the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania regained independence in 1991 and joined the EU last year.
Verheugen said that at next week's EU-Russia summit in Moscow, which comes one day after world leaders gather in the Russian capital to mark the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany 60 years ago, he would stress that the end of World War II did not bring freedom to all of Europe.
"We have to testify that the end of World War II was a day when fascism was defeated and it was a victory day, but not for everybody," he said.
"For the Baltic states, it was the beginning of dictatorship, violation of human rights, denial of democracy and self-determination."
The EU commissioner described as "encouraging" US President George W. Bush's visit to Latvia this week for a summit with Baltic leaders, just before the US leader goes to Moscow to attend the 60th anniversary victory celebrations.
"I think President Bush will deliver the same message as me," Verheugen said.
Presidents Arnold Rüütel of Estonia and Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania will shun the May 9 events in Moscow because of the painful memories the date has for their countries : May 9, 1945 marked the start of nearly 50 years of Soviet occupation of the Baltics.
Comments