On 8 October, state representatives from the former Eastern Bloc took an unexpected initiative addressed directly to Western leaders, all countries, and citizens of the international community. The initiative aims to clarify how Nazism fell during the Second World War and to point out that Nazism has risen again.
The CIS joint position paper aims to counter widespread attempts in the West to falsify the history by which then Germany, led by a Nazi ideology, was defeated in World War II. The West has also been infiltrated by the Nazi ideology and alienation between countries to the extent that this ideology and alienation now directly influences the EU’s international policy, according to CIS representatives.
The CIS stands for Commonwealth of Independent States and includes the following member states: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The CIS encourages cooperation on economic, political, and military matters and has certain powers in trade, financial, legal, and security coordination, including the prevention of cross-border crime.
The statement, first posted on the Kremlin’s website, is of great public interest among European politicians and citizens. Therefore, NewsVoice is publishing it in full, in accordance with the principles of freedom of the press and freedom of expression. The views and opinions of the CIS countries on the real history of Europe and Eurasia are of great public interest.
NewsVoice exceptionally publishes similar statements and press releases in unedited form from, for example, the Swedish government, NATO, and the US Department of Defence. Readers can then send in their opinion pieces to subject these publications to debate.
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”Address by the Heads of States members of the Commonwealth of Independent States to the peoples of the Commonwealth and the world community on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945
8 October 2024
We, the Heads of States members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, call on the peoples of the Commonwealth and the peoples of the world to prevent the revival of fascism, Nazism, and militarism and to stop attempts to unleash a new world war.
Eighty years ago, the multinational Soviet people won a historic victory in the Great Patriotic War. This war, which became the bloodiest in the history of mankind, claimed the lives of millions of our compatriots who died on the war fronts, in partisan units, under bombardment, tortured in occupation and concentration camps and died of cold and hunger.
The hardest war in mankind’s history ended victoriously in May 1945, largely due to the unity, unbending steadfastness, and heroic self-sacrifice of our people. Combat brotherhood and labour exploits ensured victory in the Great Patriotic War. We are proud that, having endured all the trials, the peoples of our States made an invaluable contribution to achieving the final victory over fascism.
Noting the special significance of the anti-Hitler coalition as a unique historical unification of the efforts of States with different political systems in countering the universal threat, we recall that the acts of the main Nazi criminals, who bore full responsibility for unleashing and waging the Second World War, were recognized as criminal by the verdict of the International Military Tribunal.
We emphasize that the facts of the expulsion and extermination of the civilian population by the Nazis and their accomplices, as established in the verdict, must be regarded as genocide of the people of the Soviet Union. Today we must not forget the moral assessments of the criminal activities of the Nazi leaders, which were given by the Nuremberg Tribunal and confirmed by the United Nations General Assembly.
Attempts to place equal responsibility for unleashing the war on the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany are immoral and sinful to the memory of the liberators of the world from the ‘brown plague’.
We strongly condemn the desire to justify the actual perpetrators of the war, to diminish the role of our people in the defeat of Nazism, to rehabilitate the accomplices of Hitler’s executioners and those who fought against the anti-Hitler coalition, collaborated with the Nazi movement and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
We, the heads of the CIS member States, appeal to the peoples of the Commonwealth countries and the world community to condemn and prevent the falsification of history and to resolutely oppose the justification and glorification of Nazi, fascist, and similar nationalist movements and their followers, including the erection of monuments and memorials that promote racism, religious discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in all its forms and manifestations.
Express deep concern at the increasing number of deliberate attempts and incidents of desecration or destruction of monuments erected in honor of those who fought against Nazism during the Second World War, and urge respect for memorials and graves regardless of their location, unhindered access to them and prevention of vandalism and their destruction.
We call for the condemnation and prosecution of those who insult the memory of the liberators and glorify Nazi criminals and their henchmen.
In this regard, we welcome the UN General Assembly resolution on ‘Combating the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance’, and express our commitment to the goals and principles of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. We view the broad support for these critical documents as a confirmation of the determination of the international community to prevent a repetition of the tragic mistakes of the past and to build the future on unifying principles.
It is our common duty to honor the memory of those who died for freedom and peace on Earth, to defend with all our might the just cause for which they fought and gave their lives, and to strengthen in every possible way the unity of all people of goodwill in the struggle against all manifestations of Nazism and neo-Nazism and the threat of a new world war.”
Source: Обращение глав государств – участников Содружества Независимых Государств к народам стран Содружества и мировой общественности в связи с 80-летием Победы советского народа в Великой Отечественной войне 1941–1945 годов (Kreml.ru) återspeglat på X
Related: Commonwealth of Independent States (Britannica) and Putindirect.com