Statement by the Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly

of the Russian Federation on the 70th Anniversary of the Beginning of World War II

The Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the beginning of World War II, calls upon the world community for fair and unbiased assessment of the reasons for and implications of that historic event.

World War II that started on September 1, 1939, became the largest tragedy of the twentieth century. It took a heavy toll of dozens of millions lives. Therefore, the memory of it should remain clear, with no spots of politically motivated distortions.

History has returned the verdict that these are the leaders of Nazy Germany who are to be primarily accused of that tragedy. The Nuremberg International Military Tribunal qualified their actions which had brought about an aggressive war as the gravest crime against humanity. The world community has recognized the verdict as final and irreversible.

World War II stemmed from irreconcilable differences that had been growing since early 1920s among several States, as well as from their selfish ambitions and aggressive aspirations.

At the same time, we cannot overlook that until World War II burst out in pursuance of their own goals some political forces governing several influential European states impeded the establishment of an effective European collective security system, which was unthinkable without the USSR, as it is now without Russia. Moscow's foreign policy in 1930s might be viewed differently – it is a matter of interpretation – but it is of no doubt that the USSR consistently supported the establishment of pan-European system of mutual obligations and safeguards in order to prevent a full-scale military conflict. Unfortunately, this position was not supported by other states, neither when Germany was unilaterally dismantling the Versailles-Washington system of international relations shaped after World War I, nor after Austria's Anschluss, nor Hitler (in an effort to "pacify" him) was given a right to define the future of Czechoslovakia – then a sovereign European state.

World War II became not only an ordeal, but also a lesson for the entire mankind, which after that tragedy in 1945 created a system of international relations on the basis of democracy, mutual respect and non-use of force, as reflected by the fundamental principles of the UN and other international organizations.

However, on the eve of this mournful date, several European states including those who fought on the side of Hitler’s Germany, and international parliamentary structures make active attempts to revise the real causes of World War II and place the equal responsibility for its unleashing on the USSR and Hitler’s Germany and also to discharge those who were accomplices of the Hitler’s forces, committed outrages on the territories of the states occupied by the Nazi and were defeated together with the Third Reich.

The Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation declares that such attempts pose a direct insult to our multiethnic nation, which paid the highest price for the hard-won peace. The steps aimed at revising the history have far-reaching political goals in order to revise the results of World War II. As a result, this undermines the established international relations system and creates new hotbeds among peoples and states of the European continent that contradict the key principles of international relations and interests of security and global stability.

The Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation condemns any attempts aimed at biased interpretation of historical facts used as an instrument in the today’s struggle for influence in the world.

The Council of Federation of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation counts on understanding and support of all those who care about the historical truth, peaceful future of Europe and the whole world.

The Council of Federation

of the Federal Assembly

of the Russian Federation

Moscow

18 July 2009

№ 306-СФ