Moscow and Minsk have no right to allow the return of Nazism to the European continent. This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin at a plenary session of the forum "Great Heritage - Common Future" in Volgograd, in which his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko also participated, TASS reported, quoted by BTA.
“I would like to thank everyone present once again for being here and for honoring this significant day of victory with us, which here in the Battle of Stalingrad marked the beginning of the end of Nazism in Europe“, said the Russian leader and added: “That was then, but if you are here, then you, as the President of Belarus (Alexander Lukashenko) said so convincingly and eloquently now, understand that we have no right to allow this in the future. Never. That's why we are here“.
The Russian leader once again thanked the participants in the plenary session and congratulated them on the upcoming Victory Day in World War II.
The Lithuanian, Latvian and Ukrainian Nazis demonstrated particular cruelty during the years of World War II, and today in these countries they wave the flags of the SS divisions, Lukashenko said.
“Previously, these documents were classified. During the Soviet Union, it was not customary to talk about this“, he added.
According to him, today in the Baltic states and Ukraine, young people “wave the flags of the SS divisions and erect monuments to the fascist executioners. “And all this with the tacit consent of the rest of the West. However, we must not remain silent - that is why we have gathered," said the Belarusian leader.
He noted that the Belarusian prosecutor's office has been investigating horrific facts of genocide against the Belarusian people for several years, uncovering new facts of crimes. According to Lukashenko, investigators have found the remains of small children pressed to their mothers' chests. He also mentioned witness accounts of pregnant women being disemboweled with knives, babies' heads being smashed with rifle butts, children being burned alive, and other monstrous crimes of the Nazis.
Putin thanked Lukashenko for his decision to attend the Victory Day parade in Moscow.
„You are celebrating this significant date with us, and I very much hope to see you in Moscow on the day of the main celebrations on May 9. I know that you have decided that a representative Belarusian army unit will also march along Red Square. "Thank you very much for that," the Russian leader addressed his Belarusian counterpart.
“All our decisions have always been aimed at the unity of our peoples“, Lukashenko replied.
He once again called not to believe the words of the West, but to evaluate only the deeds.
Lukashenko noted that Western propaganda had done a lot to discredit the Red Army, the partisan movement, and to exonerate Nazi criminals.
“They did not reach everyone, but their ideas nevertheless penetrated into individual chapters. And this is a lesson: to protect national memory, we must do more, we must never relax, we must not believe in any remorse, but only in deeds,“, the Belarusian leader noted, adding that the West has taught him exactly this.
Putin proposed the creation of a Russian-Belarusian commission to preserve historical memory and protect the truth about World War II. He spoke out in favor of preventing the revival of Nazism and in support of an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Europe, TASS reports.
“Its main task (of the bilateral commission - ed. note) should be to consolidate the public and political forces of our citizens, primarily young people, around joint projects aimed at protecting the truth about World War II, the exploits of the Soviet people“, said the Russian leader, adding that leading experts and historians from both countries should be involved in the commission's work.
Protecting the memory of World War II is a top priority, and over the past 10 years, more than 10 federal laws related to historical and material issues have been adopted in Russia, Putin said.
The peoples of the CIS “together have gone through the most difficult trials [...] And the defeat of Nazism is our common heritage“, he summarized the Russian leader.