VE Day: a poisoned chalice for some

The 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazism in Europe was celebrated in grand style in Moscow last week. The commemoration, however, was marred by controversy because the countries of Eastern Europe and the Baltic states believe - rightly so - they have absolutely no reason to celebrate. For them, the defeat of Nazism did not usher in freedom and democracy - instead these countries were engulfed in a Communist dictatorship imposed by the Soviet Union for almost a quarter of a century. In other words, one dictatorship simply replaced another.

There is no doubt, on the other hand, that the Soviet Union made a huge sacrifice and paid a terrible price in helping to defeat Nazi Germany. In what was called "The Great Patriotic War" the Soviet Union lost 27 million people - much more than double what all the other allies lost together. So the very important - and heroic - role the Soviet Union played in winning the war against Nazism has to be acknowledged.

While there was nothing wrong in remembering this very important anniversary in Moscow and paying tribute to the Russians for their role in the war, it is equally important that a clear view of what happened in the past emerges and that Russia finally comes to terms with its past.

The brutal fact is that the 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact led to the annexation of the Baltic states by the Soviet Union and the division of Poland between Nazi Germany and the USSR. When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 the Baltic states were annexed by Germany which also then occupied most of Eastern Europe.

After the collapse of Hitler's Germany the Soviet Union replaced the Nazis as the occupying force in the region. The Baltic states were once again annexed and formed part of the Soviet Union while the countries of Eastern Europe had Communist governments imposed on them which were controlled by Moscow.

The truth, therefore, is that for these countries, the real day of liberation is not May 9, 1945, but November 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down, or May 1, 2004, when eight former Communist countries joined the European Union. It is not altogether surprising that the Presidents of two Baltic states, Lithuania and Estonia, refused to attend the Moscow celebrations last Monday.

In various press interviews both the Lithuanian and Latvian Presidents commented that the defeat of the Nazi tyranny in Europe only meant more than 40 years of slavery for their countries. The European Union also made this point. The European Commission stated, rightly so: "We remember the many millions for whom the end of the second world war was not the end of dictatorship, and for whom true freedom was only to come with the fall of the Berlin Wall."

It is clear that Russia has not yet atoned for its past, although the time has come for some contemplation. It only has to look at Germany, its one-time foe, at how a country can come to terms with its history. Germany is the perfect example of a country that has successfully dealt with its past, that has apologised for its past errors, that has accepted its responsibility for terrible injustices and crimes against humanity committed in its name and that has established a solid democracy and free society in place of a terrible dictatorship.

Only last Tuesday, for example, a memorial was inaugurated in the centre of Berlin to the victims of the Holocaust, the six million Jews murdered by the Nazis.

No country has done more to atone for its past than Germany. Germany today has moved on, it is a beacon of democracy and it considers the defeat of Nazism as its day of liberation. In fact May 8 is celebrated as Democracy Day in Germany.

Addressing Parliament on Sunday German President Horst Kohler remarked: "We have the responsibility to keep alive the memories of all the suffering in the Nazi period of 1933 to 1945 and the reasons it occurred, and we must ensure that it never happens again. We Germans look back with horror and shame at the break with civilisation in the Holocaust."

Russia must come to terms with the fact that the Soviet Union collaborated with Hitler in dividing Europe between 1939-1941, imposed a dictatorship across Eastern Europe for almost 50 years, illegally annexed the Baltic States and committed terrible atrocities in the name of Communism. It has yet to apologise for any of these things.

The worst atrocities took place under Josef Stalin's rule, when millions of people throughout the Soviet Union died in purges or in the many gulags that were set up in the country.

And yet, unlike the many memorials to the victims of the Holocaust in Germany and elsewhere, there are no memorials, no shrines, no monuments honouring the victims of Stalinism and Communism. Former gulags, unlike former Nazi concentration and extermination camps, have not been turned into places where people can go and pay their respects to those who perished in these terrible camps and to remember just what took place there.

Western Europe has had plenty of time to reflect on World War II while Eastern Europe and Russia are still not sure how to deal with their past - the Berlin Wall, after all, only came down in 1989. A start should be made, however, and an apology by Russia for the annexation of the Baltic states would be a good beginning, but somehow I cannot see this happening under President Putin, who has adopted more of a nationalist tone recently.

The Russian President recently stated that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was "the greatest geo-political catastrophe of the century". This is not to say that Mr Putin is a closet Stalinist, he is certainly not, but it is clear that he and many Russians find it difficult to move forward and distance themselves from their past.

Russia should not fear the spread of democracy in its so-called 'sphere of influence'. It should not worry about the peaceful democratic revolutions that took place in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan. Nor should it be displeased at the fact that US President George Bush sandwiched his trip to Moscow between two very successful visits to Latvia, where he called the 1945 division of Europe one the greatest mistakes of history, and Georgia, where he referred to the former Soviet republic as a "beacon for democracy and liberty".

Russia is a proud country that has an important role to play in the world. Coming to terms with its past would be the best way to really help it play a constructive role in European and international affairs.