Russia has invited dozens of world leaders to a summit this May 9th to celebrate the 60th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. Moscow intends this to be a celebration of its historic “liberation” of central and eastern Europe. The Kremlin will not tolerate any suggestion that for nearly 50 years the Soviet Union either occupied, subjugated or coercively controlled practically all of central and eastern Europe.

Canada has been invited. The Estonian Central Council in Canada is very concerned that Canada, probably to be represented by the Governor General, does not explicitly or inadvertently endorse Russia’s deliberate distortion of the facts. The Council urges contacting local Members of Parliament to explain our concerns. A few suggestions for your letters:

a) Dear....: I am concerned that the Canadian representative in Moscow on May 9th celebrating the 60th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany may inadvertently approve Russia’s claim to “liberating” central and eastern Europe. I urge Canada to promote the truth, that the Soviet Union continued for nearly 50 years to deny self-determination to many nations until the actual liberation of the region in 1991. This is not an unimportant history triviality. May I expect that my concerns will be passed on to the appropriate authorities?

b) Dear....: Russia is renewing its assertion that it “liberated” central and eastern Europe at the end of WW II, by convening a summit of world leaders on May 9th to celebrate the 60th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany. While the defeat of Nazism is a legitimate milestone to be commemorated, the so called Russian “liberation” of half of Europe is dangerously deceitful. As a Canadian citizen, I urge the Canadian representative to make this very clear on May 9th in Moscow. Can we count on your support?

c) Dear.....: By not recognizing de jure the USSR’s annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Canada retained a principled position and was not affected by the day-to-day politics of international accommodation. As Canadians we applaud this and expect the Canadian representative to Russia’s 60th anniversary of the victory over Nazism on May 9th not to be manipulated into endorsing Moscow’s claim to be the “liberators” of eastern and central Europe. In fact for nearly 50 years they were the prison wardens of the region. May we look forward to your backing of this issue?

Your parlamentarian’s address, e-mail etc. can be retrieved from the internet website: canada.gc.ca. For more information, contact the Estonian Central Council at 416 465 2219, ) or the Estonian Consulate at 416 461 0764, ).

ESTONIAN CENTRAL COUNCIL IN CANADA, LL

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