Estonia made a proposal to the EU for stronger condemnation of crimes caused by communism

Text Timo Huttunen
Photo Stina Kase

On July 22, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas signed a joint petition with the leaders of Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania. In the petition, which was sent to the decision-makers of the European Union, the countries demanded that, due to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the European Union must pay even more attention to condemning all crimes committed by totalitarian governments in the 20th century.

“The whole of Europe needs to understand what happens when the crimes of totalitarian governments go unpunished. Russia is repeating the crimes of the Soviet regime in Ukraine every day. Although the end of the Second World War meant peace for the countries of Western Europe, it brought new massacres, deportations and repressions of the communist regime to Estonia and other countries of Eastern Europe. In order to stop the Kremlin’s war machine and bring war criminals to justice, the roots of Russian imperialism must be understood,” said Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

In their speeches, the heads of state pointed out that the Kremlin’s current thinking is based on the ideology of its predecessors, the Soviet Union and the Russian Empire. Russia openly continues the legacy of the Soviet Union, so it is important that the EU does not allow Russia to rewrite history.

The democratic world has strongly condemned the crimes of the Nazi regime. Teaching about them is a mandatory part of history lessons in schools. Europe must be equally aware of the scope and monstrosity of the crimes caused by communism and understand that the crimes of the Soviet regime also require unequivocal condemnation.

The petition also includes a proposal to build a memorial in Brussels to the victims of totalitarian regimes, including the victims of the Soviet regime.

The petition was signed by Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda, Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.

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Communism Kaja Kallas Latvia Lithuania Poland Romania Totalitarian