Statement of the Reconciliation of European Histories group: On the Occasion of the Founding of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

The Reconciliation of European Histories group in the European Parliament welcomes the establishment of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience as a significant step towards the reconciliation and converging of the European historical narratives. In 2004 when the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, became Member States, the true history of the Iron Curtain still had to be written. Following the enlargement we faced the challenge of including the experience of the post-communist nations into the common narrative of European history. In seven years we have accomplished much to raise the public’s awareness about Europe’s troubled past and the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes. As the December 22nd 2010 Commission Report on the memory of crimes committed by totalitarian regimes and the June 8th 2011 Council Conclusions of the same title show, these years of work have brought this most important topic to the highest reaches of EU governance

As the June 3rd 2008 Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism and the April 2nd 2009 European Parliament resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism have been highly noteworthy milestones in our work, the October 14th 2011 founding of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience will no doubt be another. The European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 clearly highlights the need “to strengthen European awareness of crimes committed by totalitarian and undemocratic regimes, documentation of, and accounts testifying to, Europe’s troubled past must be supported, as there can be no reconciliation without remembrance.” For this reason this Platform is so important, because the preservation of these memories and values bring Europe closer to a stronger union and a reconciliation with its past. Yet the potential of this Platform is even greater because it provides a European network for national organizations working on the preservation of the memory of the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes and substantially strengthens the horizontal connections of European history. Reconciliation of European Histories group considers the Platform of European Memory and Conscience as an important platform for cooperation to achieve the reunification of European history based on truth and remembrance.

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