Quotable notes (05/22/05)

Quotable notes

"The Verkhovna Rada should establish a separate status of freedom fighters of Ukraine. ... The status would also cover members of the army of the Ukrainian National Republic, those servicemen who defended it. ... And given such an approach there would be no need to do anybody a favor, but to simply recognize the best sons of the Ukrainian people, those of its representatives who ... fought for its freedom."

- National Deputy Levko Lukianenko, speaking at a news conference in Ivano-Frankivsk on May 6, as cited by the Ukrainian News Agency.

" ... no, the Russian president doesn't have to talk about the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe every day - but during a major international anniversary of the end of the war, he clearly should. And no, the U.S. president does not have to talk about Yalta every year, but when he goes to Latvia to mark the anniversary of the war he should - just as any American president visiting Africa for the first time should speak of slavery. No American or Russian leader should appear unpatriotic when abroad, but at the right time, at the right place, it is useful for statesmen to tell the truth, even if just to acknowledge that some stretches of our history were more ambiguous, and some of our victories more bittersweet, than they once seemed."

- Columnist Anne Applebaum, writing in the Washington Post on May 11.

"I would like to assure you: Germany recognizes its responsibility to Ukraine, which arises from history. We have not forgotten the fact that the Ukrainian people experienced terrible sufferings during the time of the second world war that was unleashed by Nazi Germany.

"We have also not forgotten those incredible losses, which [the Ukrainian people] had to undergo so as to overcome National Socialism together with the other allies."

- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in a letter to the people of Ukraine that was released on May 8 by the press service of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, as cited by the Ukrainian News Agency.

"After the war, Germany made great efforts to atone for the unspeakable crimes committed under the Nazi regime. This process began with an honest evaluation of the country's Nazi-era history and continued with Germany's unequivocal renunciation of its totalitarian past. Russia would gain immensely by acting in a similar manner and by expressing its genuine regret for the crimes of the Soviet regime. Until Russia does so it will continue to be haunted by the ghosts of its past, and its relations with its immediate neighbors will remain uneasy at best."

- Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, in an op-ed article in the Washington Post on May 7.

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