80 years since the outbreak of WWII,
\nthe European Parliament condemns in a resolution the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact
\nsigned on 23rd August 1939 by the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany – a
\ntreaty of non-aggression which, together with its secret protocols, in effect
\ndivided Europe and the territories of independent states between the two
\ntotalitarian regimes. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The resolution recalls that as a
\nresult of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact and the Nazi-Soviet Boundary and
\nFriendship Treaty of 28th September 1939, the Polish Republic was invaded
\nfirst by Hitler and two weeks later by Stalin – which stripped the country of
\nits independence and was an unprecedented tragedy for the Polish people – the
\ncommunist Soviet Union started an aggressive war against Finland on 30 November
\n1939, and in June 1940 it occupied and annexed parts of Romania – territories
\nthat were never returned – and annexed the independent republics of Lithuania,
\nLatvia and Estonia. After the defeat of the Nazi regime and the end of WWII,
\nthe resolution also writes, some European countries managed to rebuild and
\nembark on a reconciliation process. Others, however, remained under
\ndictatorships, some of which under Soviet occupation or direct influence for
\ndecades, being deprived of freedom, sovereignty, dignity, human rights and
\nsocial and economic development. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
In Bucharest, president Klaus
\nIohannis hailed the resolution, saying it is a step forward towards penalising the
\ntotalitarian regimes responsible for the destruction of an impressive number of
\nhuman lives and the grave violation of fundamental rights and liberties.
\nEducating the young generation to foster respect for democratic principles and
\nhuman dignity by including in educational programmes the teaching of the
\nhistory of totalitarian regimes is an urgent need of society today, the
\nRomanian president also said. A statement by the president’s office reiterates
\nthat honouring the victims of totalitarian regimes, defending democracy and the
\nrule of law, respecting human rights, promoting European values and principles
\nand taking responsibility for the traumatic past, as well as taking sustained
\naction to combat extremism, revisionism, illiberalism and all actions aimed at
\nweakening democracy and threaten social peace are Romania’s priority
\nobjectives. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Under the Soviet-German pact,
\nin 1940 Romania lost Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, territories that today
\nform part of the former Soviet republics of Moldova and Ukraine. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bucharest hails the resolution passed by the European Parliament commemorating the 80th anniversary of the start of WWII and the importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":82976,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[39748],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-82975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-ribbentrop-molotov"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n