Mr President, there is an odd question here, but let us get over to Europe.
The European Parliament adopted a decision which I think is not quite adequate –
a resolution where Nazi Germany would be set side by side with Communist Russia.
And they insist that both Stalin and Hitler started World War II together.
I think it will legitimise further NATO expansion, lead to a new schism, and, most crucially,
to misunderstanding among the youth and among the people in Europe. What can be done to stop this?
I do not want to characterise the Stalin regime now.
You know, we all know about the repressions, camps, losses among our people, our citizens during those repressions.
This is a black page in the history of our country.
But saying that Stalin started the war is utter cynicism.
As if it was the Soviet Union that attacked Germany at 4 am on June 22, and not the German troops crossed the Soviet border,
violating the existing non-aggression treaty, attacked the Soviet Union unilaterally without declaring war.
Let us not forget the sad outcome, the tragic outcome, tragic for the people of the Soviet Union:
25–27 million dead (no one has been able to make a final count to this day), and about ten million dead in Germany. This is a tragedy.
Do not forget that it was the Soviet troops that stormed Berlin.
This is regarding the speculations about certain countries’ contribution to the fight against Nazism.
I just said – the Soviet Union losses stand at 25–27 million,
the US losses amount to half a million, while the UK lost 350,000–400,000 altogether.
All major German troops (not all but the most combatant forces, both in the number and quality) were accumulated in the eastern front.
For some reason there are attempts to confuse, play down and misinterpret all that.
I think the threat is that the key thing may be lost in the process of all these manipulations:
people may begin to stop fearing the recurrence of such tragedies.
That is the point. And in my view all of us, all sane people, – must stand up to it.
