On the occasion of the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, also known as the Pan-European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of All Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes, celebrated on Tuesday 23 August, the President of the Commission for European Union, the German politician Ursula von der Leyen (Ursula von der Leyen) harshly criticized the head of Russian state Vladimir Putin.

“This year Putin brought the horrors of war back to Europe and reminded us that peace cannot be taken for granted,” said the head of the European Commission. Russia’s war against Ukraine is illegal and unjustified, she stressed.

Furthermore, Russian state-controlled propaganda distorts history and spreads conspiracy theories, and those who oppose this are punished. And there will be no rest until Ukraine defends its position, von der Leyen is convinced.

“Ukraine’s citizens give their lives to protect the values ​​on which our Union is based”, underlined the head of the European Commission.

As a reminder of the treaty between Stalin and Hitler

The European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Stalinism and Nazism proclaimed by the European Parliament has been celebrated on 23 August since 2009. In 1939, on this day, the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the USSR and the Additional Secret Protocol were signed, which determined the “limits of the spheres of interest” of the parties in Europe in case of territorial and political reorganization of the regions that are part of Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Poland. The German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact is considered to be the document that set the stage for the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.