Von der Leyen: Putin Brought the Horrors of War Back to Europe

“Putin brought the horrors of war back to Europe, but he also reminded us that peace cannot be taken for granted”. This was announced by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the eve of the European Day in memory of the victims of Stalinism and Nazism.

Immediately afterwards, she added that Europe will be united in its opposition to Russian military actions in Ukraine, DPA and BTA reported.

Since 2009, the EU commemorates every year on August 23 the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, also called "Black Ribbon Day", and honors on this day the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes.

This date also marks the anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the non-aggression pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that paved the way for the German invasion of Poland in September 1939.

The EU is united in its opposition to "Russian state-controlled propaganda that distorts history, spreads conspiracy theories and punishes those who oppose it," Von der Leyen said.

In recent years, the European Union has emphasized the importance of this date to draw attention to Soviet crimes and abuses in Europe, thus opposing Russian revisionism, DPA notes.

In 2019, the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the Kremlin's attempts "to cover up the crimes of the totalitarian Soviet regime". In it, these attempts are defined as "a dangerous component of (Russia's) information war against democratic Europe".

In her statement, which was released on the eve of six months since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, von der Leyen added that "the Ukrainian people are sacrificing their lives in defense of European values."

"The painful memory of the past is not just some recollection of something distant. It finds its echo in Russia's illegal and unjustified war against Ukraine," Von der Leyen was categorical.

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