MINSK, 6 May (BelTA) – Some countries have decided to cancel Victory Day celebrations and this is an opportunistic position, Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei told the media on 6 May, BelTA has learned.
According to Vladimir Makei, the Victory Day celebrations are canceled primarily by the countries that have once joined the European Union. “Today they are forced to comply with this ‘democratic' principle of European solidarity, i.e. they are communicated the position and they are obliged to comply with it,” the minister said.
He said that attempts to rewrite history began long before today's events. “The tendency to falsify history started with insults and destruction of monuments. Then there were attempts to equate a Soviet soldier with a fascist,” said Vladimir Makei. “All this has resulted in attempts to falsify history and whitewash the crimes of Nazism and fascism. It is absolutely unacceptable for us.”
According to the minister, some post-Soviet countries have taken an opportunistic position amid the anti-Russian hysteria and pressure from the West. They are changing the format of the Victory Day celebrations, and even the name of the holiday. Red flags under which Europe was liberated are banned in some of them.
“We must remember the millions of victims, including every third Belarusian who perished during that war. We owe them. We must not forget the atrocities committed by the Nazis on our land,” Vladimir Makei stressed.
