Soviet atrocities have not received the same recognition as those committed by the Nazis, which has led to Russia using past narratives in today’s wars, says Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, speaker of the Lithuanian parliament.
Russia's aggression against Ukraine "is to a large extent a relapse of the Soviet totalitarian system, which is now being rapidly rehabilitated and adapted to today's realities in Russia", Čmilytė-Nielsen said in her speech marking Lithuania’s Day of Mourning and Hope.
The commemoration is used to remember the start of Soviet mass deportations to Siberia, which began 82 years ago on June 14, 1941.
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"[Nazi crimes] received vehement and resolute condemnation both in Europe and throughout the world," Čmilytė-Nielsen said. "Unfortunately, the Soviet crimes, especially those of the Stalinist period, have not yet been given the same resolute assessment. The condemnation [of the Soviet crimes] is not yet self-evident in the common European consciousness."
"I believe there will come a time when identifying oneself as belonging to the Soviet totalitarian legacy will be tantamount to calling oneself a supporter of Nazism," she added.
The commemoration recalls the start of Soviet mass deportations to Siberia, which began 82 years ago on June 14, 1941. More than 130,000 people were deported over the next 11 years.
"[Nazi crimes] received vehement and resolute condemnation both in Europe and throughout the world," Čmilytė-Nielsen said. "Unfortunately, the Soviet crimes, especially those of the Stalinist period, have not yet been given the same resolute assessment. The condemnation [of the Soviet crimes] is not yet self-evident in the common European consciousness."
"I believe there will come a time when identifying oneself as belonging to the Soviet totalitarian legacy will be tantamount to calling oneself a supporter of Nazism," she added.
'Red terror regime’
The "red terror regime has lingered on" and will only end with Ukraine's final victory, President Gitanas Nausėda said on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately, it has to be stated that the red terror regime has lingered on and has continued to make people suffer for, it can be said, a hundred years," Nausėda told reporters after a commemorative event hosted by the parliament.
"Probably, until Ukraine achieves a final victory, we won't be able to say that an end has really been put to this regime," he added.
The president said that Stalinist totalitarianism has not yet been condemned to the same extent as Nazism, adding that efforts must continue to make sure that "the whole of Europe establishes a very clear relationship with both forms of totalitarianism".
"Today, Europe has to realise that totalitarianism has two forms," he said. "While the Nazi side of totalitarianism is condemned throughout Europe, the hydra of the red terror, or Stalinist totalitarianism, Putinist totalitarianism, unfortunately, has not yet been beheaded."
Monuments with Stalin's quotes can still be found in Western European cities, which shows that "there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of historical memory", according to the president.
Monika Rogers, a historian from the Platform of European Memory and Conscience told the Seimas that democratic Europe is "far behind schedule in implementing justice".
"Sometimes in Lithuania, and even more often elsewhere in Europe, there are cases where the memory of the victims and the right to justice are denied," the historian said. "In Western Europe, initiatives to assess Soviet crimes are often still considered controversial."
"The general public still does not know much about deportations and other mass Soviet crimes. In Berlin, however, there is still a huge memorial dedicated to Soviet soldiers in Treptower Park, with quotes from Stalin," she added.
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