Documents and Information Regarding the ‘House of European History’ Project

Speech by MEP Heidi Hautala at the conference “Crimes of the communist regimes” held in Prague

Contribution of Heidi Hautala, chairwoman of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee of Human rights, at the conference “Crimes of the Communist Regimes” in Prague 24-26 February 2010:

Dear participants of the conference Crimes of the Communist Regimes,

I can’t unfortunately be present in the conference, as I am taking part on a European Parliament’s fact-finding delegation visit to Belarus.

Twenty years after the fall of the Iron Curtain and almost six years after the accession of post-communist countries to the EU, it is natural to ask how one should deal with the past of the communist states. How should we evaluate the actions of the communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain? For me the points of departure are definitely human rights and justice.

Advertisement

A pivotal judgment of the ECHR: “No impunity for perpetrators of war crimes,” Sandra Kalniete MEP

Press release
Strasbourg, 18 May 2010 

Yesterday, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg upheld the war crimes conviction of a “Red Partisan” who was found guilty of ordering the killing of civilians while fighting for Soviet forces in Nazi-occupied Latvia in 1944.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has said the Soviet Union was “totalitarian”

Baltics welcome Medvedev concession
The Baltic Times, Oskars Magone, May 07, 2010

MOSCOW — Leaders from the Baltic States have welcomed statements from Russian President Dmitri Medvedev concerning the alleged crimes of the Soviet Union.

A major bone of contention in diplomatic relations between the Baltic States and Russia lies in crimes committed by the Soviet Union.

First meeting of the ‘Reconciliation of European Histories’ informal group

On Thursday, 6 May 2010, 35 MEPs from five political groups established ‘Reconciliation of European Histories,’ an informal group of MEPs.