R. Tamašunienė: Historical Memory Is One of the Priorities of Lithuania’s Presidency of the EU Council
The Minister of Justice Rita Tamašunienė met with the Estonian Minister of Justice and Digital Affairs Liisa-Ly Pakosta and discussed the priorities of Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, paying particular attention to the issue of the European historical memory and the initiative to commemorate the victims of totalitarian regimes.
The Minister Rita Tamašunienė emphasised that the issue of Lithuanian historical memory is particularly important. According to her, it is necessary to join forces in order to preserve and consolidate a correct historical memory throughout Europe.
“Assessing the crimes of totalitarian regimes and combating the rewriting of history will be among the priorities of Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, accompanied by disinformation and historical revisionism, shows that impunity encourages new crimes. Lithuania, which itself has not been able to achieve international accountability for Soviet crimes committed against the Lithuanian people, is actively raising the issue of legal solutions that could ensure international accountability for the crime of aggression against Ukraine,” emphasised the Minister.
Much attention was paid to the project of a common European memorial in Brussels to the victims of 20th century totalitarian regimes. The Minister has pointed out that the implementation of the memorial project in the capital of the European Union is extremely important for the formation of a common European memory, the rapprochement of Western, Central, and Eastern Europe, and a common approach to the crimes of Fascism, Nazism, and Communism.
“We have the political support of almost all our partners for this memorial, but at this stage there is a serious lack of concrete financial solutions. I sincerely invite you to contribute both financially and politically to the implementation of this initiative so that together we can create a unifying and meaningful memorial for European historical memory policy and a common understanding of history,” stressed the Minister Rita Tamašunienė.
Given that Lithuania and Estonia share a common history, the Minister Rita Tamašunienė invited her Estonian counterpart to closely cooperate on these issues in order to achieve long-term and meaningful results at the European level.