 | No dhimmis in the Balkans... |
The presidents of Estonia and Lithuania on Monday refused invitations to attend May ceremonies in Moscow marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, due to lingering bitterness over the postwar Soviet occupation of the Baltic nations. | ""Our dance card is full now; we'll sit this one out." |
People in the former Soviet republics of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are split over whether the leaders should go to the ceremony; Russia has never acknowledged its role as a driving force behind the five-decade Soviet occupation of the Baltics. "Understanding well how sensitive history is to the Lithuanian nation, I have decided to stay in Lithuania on May 9 to celebrate it properly," Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus said after meeting Russia's ambassador to Lithuania, Boris Tsepov. He said he hoped Russia would understand his decision. Adamkus invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Vilnius so he could explain in person his reasons for not attending.| I like a leader with a spine. It's all the rage in New Europe! |
Tsepov left Adamkus' office without answering questions from reporters, and Russia's Foreign Ministry had no comment.| No printable comments, at any rate. |
President Arnold Ruutel of Estonia also said Monday that he would not attend the ceremonies, but would send his foreign minister. "The sufferings of the people of Estonia caused by World War II and those of the following years have not yet died away from the memory of the people," Ruutel said. Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said in January she planned to attend the events in Moscow, saying she wanted to "extend the hand of friendship" to Russia. But she also pointed out that while much of Europe was celebrating the end of an occupation, the defeat of Nazi Germany signaled the beginning of a five-decade Soviet occupation for much of Eastern Europe. |