Belarus at OSCE: Nazism should not raise its head again
Permanent representatives of eleven states made a joint statement at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of Victory in World War II. As reported by the Foreign Ministry, Belarus was among the co-authors of the appeal, along with Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“This year celebrates the 78th anniversary of the Victory in World War II. It is our common duty to preserve the historical memory of the most tragic page of the 20th century history and the terrible events of those years. The heroic feat of millions of people who gave their lives for the struggle against the ideology of racial superiority and misanthropy symbolises the victory of Good over Evil and cannot be forgotten. We strongly condemn the destruction and desecration of monuments to soldier-liberators, memorial sites to heroes and military leaders, as well as burial places of soldiers and officers, regardless of their location, national or ethnic origin. We mourn the victims of National Socialism," the statement reads.
The authors emphasise the unacceptability of attempts to revise or distort the results of WWII, as well as the rehabilitation and glorification of the Nazis and their accomplices, the denial of the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by them. “In line with the decisions of the Nuremberg Tribunal, which legally consolidated the gains of Victory over Nazism, the crimes committed by them have no statute of limitations,” they say.
All the authors of the statement welcome the UN General Assembly resolution – Combating Glorification of Nazism, Neo-Nazism and Other Practices That Contribute to Fuelling Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance – adopted on December 15th, 2022, “We view a broad support for this important thematic document as a confirmation of the determination of the international community not to allow the tragic mistakes of the past to be repeated and to build the future on a unifying basis. We call on all countries to honour the memory of the fighters against fascism and Nazism during the Second World War, to respect the feat of peoples. Defeated Nazism should not raise its head again.”
