On Thursday, 16 January, the Saeima adopted a resolution on the 80th anniversary of the occupation of the Republic of Latvia and the unacceptability of the distortion of the history of the Second World War.

In the resolution, the Parliament of the Republic of Latvia condemned the attempts by state officials of the Russian Federation to deny historical facts about the causes, process and the end of the Second World War, thus trying to shirk the Soviet Union’s responsibility for the outbreak of the War in Europe and relativise the crimes committed by the Soviet totalitarian regime.

The Saeima emphasised that the attempts by state officials of the Russian Federation to revise internationally recognised historical evaluations, making biased attempts to justify the actions of the Soviet Union that threatened the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries, are contrary to the principles of historical fairness and the foundation of good neighbourly relations.

Additionally, the Saeima stressed that, to honour the victims of totalitarian regimes and in the name of the common future of Europe, Latvia would continue to contribute to the development of an objective historical narrative, drawing the attention of the international community to the attempts at revising the history of the Second World War and justifying acts of aggression, as they pose a threat to the functioning of international law and the European security environment as a whole.

In the resolution, the MPs pointed out that this year marks the 80th anniversary since 17 June 1940, when the Soviet Union committed aggression against the Republic of Latvia and illegally occupied and annexed Latvia, ignoring rules of international law and international commitments of the Soviet Union, as well as the national law of Latvia.

The resolution also noted that 8 May of this year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe, including the surrender of Nazi Germany and the dissolution of one of the most violent totalitarian regimes. However, the end of the War did not bring liberation to Latvia and other countries in Central and Eastern Europe, as opposed to Western European countries. Latvia was occupied by the other totalitarian power — the Soviet Union — for the second time.

The Saeima reminded that two totalitarian regimes — Nazi Germany and the communist Soviet Union — had made an agreement on 23 August 1939, breaching the existing rules of international law and their international commitments, on the division of Central and Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, signing the Treaty of Non-Aggression between Germany and the USSR, known as the Molotov–Ribbentrop (Stalin–Hitler) Pact, and its secret protocol, causing the Second World War.

The Saeima also reiterated that the Soviet Union had occupied the Republic of Latvia in 1940, imposed a regime change in Latvia in a very short time and annexed the country, followed by mass repressions: murder, arrests, deportations, relocating large numbers of USSR citizens to Latvia, Russification, attempts to destroy the Latvian national identity, significant devaluation of the Latvian language and culture.

The Parliament of Latvia expressed its conviction that attempts to diminish the role of the internationally condemned Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in causing the Second World War and to deny the fact of the illegal occupation and annexation target the constitutional foundations of Latvia and mislead the international community about the role of the Soviet Union in causing the Second World War, thus threatening the international order.

Moreover, the Saeima expressed its conviction that an honest and fair attitude towards one’s own and other peoples’ history is a prerequisite for establishing sound international relations based on the principle of equal partnership, thus allowing for building of a harmonious international environment.

Upon adopting the resolution, the Parliament of Latvia calls on the Russian Federation as the legal successor of the rights and obligations of the Soviet Union to recognise the fact that Latvia was occupied and illegally annexed and to abandon politically motivated revisionism and distortion of history.

In the resolution, the Saeima calls on the international community to pay attention and take a critical view of the attempts by state officials of the Russian Federation to rewrite the history of the Second World War and to justify the illegal occupation and annexation of Latvia.

Saeima Press Service