News

The sixth anniversary of the unveiling of the memorial to victims of communism took place on June 12th in Washington, D.C. It was attended by representatives from the Embassy of Lithuania in Washington, D.C., as well as by visiting members of the Seimas – the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Benediktas Juodka, along with deputy chairman Audronius Ažubalis, who were in the capital for the Nordic–Baltic states’ parliaments' Foreign Affairs Committee head’s visit.

During the ceremony commemorating the victims of communism, A. Ažubalis spoke on behalf of the delegation of Lithuania and accented the repression of the Stalinist communist regime, which was experienced in the 20^th century by the Baltic states, and reminded of the responsibilities of these states to share this experience with those Western European nations in which communist ideology and the legacy of the Soviet Union is, at times, mistaken for the ideals of freedom and equality.

“For this purpose we have worked with partners in Central and Eastern Europe over the past few years, and have initiated and founded the Platform of European Memory and Conscience, which encourages international discussion and investigation of historical memory by academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations. We also hope that the atrocities of communism will be appropriately evaluated in the paragon of freedom that is the United States by passing an appropriate resolution in Congress, the project for which was registered in the fall of 2012.” – asserted A. Ažubalis.