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Public
Affairs
President Valdas Adamkus
Vilnius, Lietuva
Excellency:
Encouraged by your invitation to state our views as to whether the
President of Lithuanian ought to attend the festivities in Moscow on May
9th celebrating the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany in WWII, we
respectfully ask you to decline the invitation, recalling and reminding
Russia and the international
community that the victory of the Red Army in 1945 and Stalin's subsequent
rule over Eastern and Central Europe following WWII meant for the peoples
of the region not salvation, but, rather, the start of a new tyanny and
great suffering for all, including those most persecuted by the Nazis.
As, out of respect for the victims of naziism, we do not celebrate the
liberation of Lithuania from the first Soviet occupation, so, too, it
would be fitting to pay our
respect to the victims of communism by refraining from celebration of
Lithuania's liberation from the Nazi occupation, when one cruel tyrant was
replaced by another.
We think it also worth emphasizing to the international communnity that
Russian President Vladimir Putin's reluctance to recognize the illegality
of Lithuania's
occupation and his praise for Stalin, who is no less responsible than
Hitler for the persecution of the innocent in Eastern Europe, is not only
deeply hurtful to all who
have suffered as a result of communism, but also raises serious doubts
about President Putin's commitment to human rights and democractic reforms
in his own country as well
as respectful relations with Russia's neighbors.
Sincerely Yours,
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Galerija
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