EDITORIAL: Acknowledging the truth (05/08/05)

EDITORIAL

Acknowledging the truth

On the eve of his departure on May 6 for Europe, President George W. Bush said he would remind Russian President Vladimir Putin - when he sees him in Moscow during 60th anniversary celebrations of the end of World War II in Europe - about the Soviet Union's occupation of the Baltic states.

As the Associated Press reported on May 5: "In excerpts of an interview to be broadcast Thursday [May 5], Bush told Lithuanian state television that he will stress to the Russian leader that the end of the war did not bring freedom for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. 'Yes, of course I'll remind him of that,' Bush said, adding that he told Putin during their last meeting in Slovakia that the end of World War II was not a day of celebration for the Baltics."

In addition, President Bush wrote a letter to Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga in which he condemned the Soviet invasion of the Baltic states. "In Western Europe, the end of World War II meant liberation. In Central and Eastern Europe, the war also marked the Soviet occupation and annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and the imposition of communism," he noted, according to a May 4 report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

That same day, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley said during a White House press briefing that Russia, as the successor state to the Soviet Union, should renounce the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. He noted that the USSR Supreme Soviet had condemned the agreement in 1989 and added that "it would be an appropriate thing for Russia, now having emerged out of the Soviet Union, to do the same thing."

The presidents of Estonia and Lithuania, it will be recalled, have declined invitations to attend Victory Day celebrations in Moscow on May 9, arguing that for their countries, this is not a celebration. They, too, have stated that Russia should denounce the Soviet Union's annexation of the Baltic states. Meanwhile, the Latvian president has said that she will attend, but will speak about the Soviet occupation of her country.

Here in the United States, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), co-chairman of the Baltic Caucus in the House of Representatives, in April introduced House Concurrent Resolution 128, which states that the "government of the Russian Federation should issue a clear and unambiguous statement of admission and condemnation of the illegal occupation and annexation by the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1991 of the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania." (The bill currently has 16 co-sponsors and has been referred to the House Committee on International Relations.)

In a "Dear Colleague" letter written in mid-April, Rep. Shimkus underscored that "As we move closer to the May 9 celebration in Moscow, where the Russian government will be honoring the 'legacy' of Stalin's regime, I feel that it is important to send a clear message that Stalin's leadership is nothing to be honored or respected by the United States Congress."

In fact, it is worth mentioning here that the United States never recognized the USSR's annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and, therefore, never referred in official documents to the "Estonian SSR," or the "Latvian SSR," or the "Lithuanian SSR." (This newspaper, too, was careful to make that distinction. Plus, we did not write about the 15 republics of the USSR, but only 12.)

Russia, meanwhile, has been whining that the Baltic leaders - and by extension their supporters - are spoiling its Victory Day celebrations. We, however, underscore that it is important to call things by their rightful names and to understand that the much-touted "Soviet victory" over Nazism meant completely different things to the nations enslaved by the USSR, including Ukraine.

And, we couldn't agree more with the wording of H. Con. Res. 128 that "the truth is a powerful weapon for healing, forgiving and reconciliation, but its absence breeds distrust, fear, and hostility."

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