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Countries that remove monuments to Soviet soldiers exist thank to USSR, envoy says

Vladimir Chizhov underscored that attempt to rewrite the history of the World War II have been going on for decades, gradually growing and turning into a targeted campaign

BRUSSELS, June 22. /TASS/. Most European countries that now demolish memorials to Soviet liberator-warriors currently exist on the global map only thanks to the USSR’s decisive contribution to the victory against Nazism, Russian Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said during a Brussels online seminar, dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union.

He underscored that attempt to rewrite the history of the World War II have been going on for decades, gradually growing and turning into a targeted campaign.

"I had to watch literally since the moment of my appointment as Russia’s Permanent Representative to the EU in 2005 as attempts to review the history of the World War II and to challenge the decisive contribution of the Soviet people to the liberation of Europe from the brown plague gained momentum. Before my very eyes, revisionist aspirations of certain - let’s put it straight - not the largest or most influential EU countries and politicians steadily gradually grew, effectively becoming a targeted campaign," he underscored.

"It indicative that most countries, where all this takes place, remained on the political map of Europe solely thanks to the victory of the Allies over the Nazi Germany, to which the USSR made the decisive contribution. Many of these countries were liberated by the Red Army at a cost of huge casualties," he noted.

"Frivolous treatment or deliberate distortion of historical facts creates an atmosphere of tolerance towards the blatant propaganda of Nazi ideas. Unfortunately, this takes place both in a number of EU states and in some post-Soviet states, including Ukraine. We have to state that the immunity against the brown plague, formed during the Nuremberg process, is receding. This spells a threat to the fundamental principles of democracy and human rights, it insults the memory of the millions of victims of the World War II and those who gave their lives for the liberation of Europe from Nazism," the envoy said.

"In 2020, Russia cemented the protection of the historical truth about our Motherland, including the World War II, in its Constitution. I promise that we will continue to defend the memory about our great victorious ancestors," Chizhov concluded.