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78th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany

Envoy slams Vienna’s refusal to invite Russia to events commemorating Austria’s liberation

The Russian envoy noted that about 80,000 Soviet nationals were buried in Austria, and more than 40,000 Soviet prisoners were killed in Nazi concentration camps established in the country

VIENNA, May 5. /TASS/. Vienna’s move to revoke the invitations for the delegations of Russia and Belarus to the celebrations marking the liberation of Austria from Nazism is unacceptable, Russian Ambassador to Vienna Dmitry Lyubinsky said.

"We believe that the decisions to revoke the invitations for the delegations of Russia and Belarus to the official celebrations commemorating the liberation of Austria from Nazism (regardless of what political institutions made them) are unacceptable and shameful, given the Alpine republic’s valued culture of remembering history," the Russian envoy stressed in a comment for the Oberosterreichische Nachrichten newspaper, which was published on the embassy’s Telegram channel on Friday.

Lyubinsky also pointed out that beyond official events, Russian and Austrian diplomats cherished the memory of Russian citizens who died for the country’s freedom. The Russian envoy noted that about 80,000 Soviet nationals were buried in Austria, and more than 40,000 Soviet prisoners were killed in Nazi concentration camps established in the country.

According to Lyubinsky, Austrian society "has taken a long and thorny path" to realize its responsibility for the crimes of Nazism. "The decision to sacrifice this scrupulous assessment of one’s modern history for the sake of achieving momentary political goals appears to be ill-conceived and short-sighted," the Russian ambassador to Austria emphasized.

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