Russia has to make the first step acknowledging Soviet crimes but Baltic countries should stop demanding money from Russia due to Soviet Union’s occupation if historical reconciliation is to be strived for, claims director of Moscow Carnegie centre Dmitrij Trenin, delfi.lt reported on 22 September.
‘Talking about historical reconciliation with Baltic countries, Russia, of course, has to take the first steps as it did with Poland’, – states Russian analytic’s article.
‘As in Poland’s case, simply reminding the condemnation of Stalin’s crimes is not enough. Moscow will have to honour the recollection of the Balts, who were murdered, imprisoned and deported by Stalin’s NKVD. It will have to acknowledge and condemn illegal and un-voluntary annexation of the Baltic States that was carried out by the Soviet Union’s. It will have to open archives related to this period and let objective research of the past be carried out’, – claims D. Trenin in a publication by the non-profit organization ‘Atlantic Council’.
In D. Trenin’s view, Russia should also avoid accusations of supporting Nazism, organizing military trainings close to the territory of the Baltic States, providing support of active or secret pro-Russian political powers or applying economical sanctions for the Baltics.
According to D. Trenin, Russia has to show genuine respect to the Baltic States and begin solving the issue of historical mortifications in these countries – specifically related to 1939-1949 period.
However, the Russian expert also noted that the Baltic States have to be honest with evaluation of the past.
‘They have to reject propositions that German occupation was more acceptable than Soviet, that opposition to Stalinism can approve cooperation with Nazis and that victory against Hitler in 1945 was ‘meaningless’. Such opinions damage the image of the Baltic States in the eyes of Nazis’ victims and their descendants’, – claims the leader of Carnegie centre.
‘Speaking in more practical terms, they have to act in a way Estonia did from the very beginning – that is, accept the fact that Soviet Union’s occupation does not have any financial consequences for Russian Federation, which residents have suffered from Stalinism no less than other countries’ residents have, – writes D. Trenin.
