Joint declaration by five countries on the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact: Pain and injustice will never be forgotten

The Heads of Foreign Ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Romania called on European governments to support research on totalitarian regimes in a declaration published on the 80th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. „Pain and injustice will never be forgotten” - we read in the declaration.

80 years ago, on 23 August 1939 in Moscow, representatives of two totalitarian powers - the Foreign Minister of the Third Reich, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR, who was also the Chairman of the Council of People’s Commissars (Prime Minister), Vyacheslav Molotov - signed a Soviet-German non-aggression pact in the presence of Stalin, together with a secret additional protocol that defined the borders of Soviet and German „spheres of influence” in Central and Eastern Europe, which meant the actual partition of Poland.

The declaration of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Romania states that this was a pact „which led to the outbreak of World War II and condemned half of Europe to decades of suffering”.

This pact contained a secret protocol that actually divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence. For this very reason, today, on the day declared by the European Parliament to be the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes, we remember all those whose deaths and broken lives were the result of crimes committed in the name of Nazi and Stalinist ideology

— wrote the ministers.

Pain and injustice will never be forgotten. We will remember. Remembering and commemorating past misfortunes give us the knowledge and strength to oppose those who try to revive or purify these ideologies from their crimes and guilt. Remembrance of the victims obliges us to promote historical justice by continuing research and raising public awareness of the totalitarian legacy on the European continent

— reads the declaration.

The Foreign Ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Romania stressed that the foundations of „lasting reconciliation and a common future are justice and objective truth”.

Victims of totalitarian crimes have a right to justice. Unfortunately, the practice of investigating and prosecuting crimes of totalitarian regimes in the affected countries remains insufficient and inconsistent

— evaluated the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

They called on „the governments of all European countries to provide both moral and material support for historical research on totalitarian regimes”.

Our countries are determined to continue to work with partners in Europe and the world to ensure that the horrors of past times never return

— declared the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Romania.

The text of the declaration was signed by the ministers of foreign affairs: Poland - Jacek Czaputowicz, Lithuania - Linas Linkevicius, Latvia - Edgars Rinkevics, Estonia - Urmas Reinsalu, Romania - Ramona Manescu.

Tłum. K.J.