Baltics unveil new Soviet occupation exhibition at UN in New York
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on Monday opened a joint exhibition at UN headquarters in New York to raise awareness of the crimes committed by the Soviet Union's Communist regime, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Titled "Lessons of World War II: The Baltic Way to UN Membership" recalls the devastating consequences of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (MRP), which in 1939 divided Europe into spheres of influence and destroyed the independence of the Baltic states, according to a press release.
As a result of the pact, and in grave violation of international law, the Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, incorporating them for half a century. During the occupation, the USSR committed thousands of crimes against humanity against the peoples of the Baltics, carrying out a violent process of Sovietization.
"In light of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, it is worth recalling in the UN that one of the triggers of the outbreak of the war was the agreement between two totalitarian regimes, resulting in Stalin's terror wiping the independent Baltic states from the world stage for 50 years," noted Estonian Ambassador to the UN Rein Tammsaar.
With the joint Baltic Way, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania finally broke out from Russia's decaying sphere of influence and rejoined the free nations of the world, he continued.
"With this joint exhibition of the three Baltic states, we commemorate the victims of the crimes of totalitarian regimes, take an undistorted look at our history and the struggle for independence, and recognize those who supported the international return of the Baltic states at home and abroad," the ambassador said.
"Lessons of World War II: The Baltic Way to UN Membership" consists of descriptions of events and illustrative photos compiled by the Estonian Institute of Historical Memory (EMI), covering events from the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact through the restoration of the independence of the Baltic states and their accession to the UN in 1991.
The exhibition was supported by the Finnish, Romanian, Moldovan and Ukrainian missions to the UN as well as the Delegation of the EU to the UN.
"Lessons of World War II: The Baltic Way to UN Membership" will remain open at the UN headquarters in New York through next Friday, May 23.
Click here for more photos from Monday's opening.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla
