Bush says Cold War captivity one of great wrongs

NY Times ^ | May 7, 2005 | REUTERS

[neverdem]

Filed at 1:34 p.m. ET

RIGA (Reuters) - President Bush denounced Soviet Cold War rule of eastern Europe as ``one of the greatest wrongs of history'' on Saturday in a jab at Moscow two days before celebrations of the 1945 victory over Hitler.

Bush, visiting Latvia before the ceremonies in Moscow marking 60 years since the end of World War II in Europe, also held up the three Baltic states as examples of democratic reform since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

He said the end of the war brought liberty from fascism for many in Germany but meant the ``iron rule of another empire'' for the Baltic states -- Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia -- and nations from Poland to Romania.

Bush admitted the United States shared some responsibility for the Cold War division of Europe after the 1945 Yalta accord between Russia, the United States and Britain.

``Once again, when powerful governments negotiated, the freedom of small nations was somehow expendable,'' he said. ``Yet this attempt to sacrifice freedom for the sake of stability left a continent divided and unstable.

``The captivity of millions in central and eastern Europe will be remembered as one of the greatest wrongs of history,'' he said in a speech at Riga's guildhall.

The three Baltic states joined both NATO and the European Union last year.

Bush's visit to Riga has angered Russia by reviving tensions about the Soviet occupation when Moscow is focusing on celebrating the end of World War II, a conflict that cost 27 million Soviet lives.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed calls by the Baltic states for an apology for Soviet rule and accused them on Saturday of trying to cover up past Nazi collaboration.

BUSH MEETS PUTIN

The differing versions of history may make for frictions when Bush meets Putin in Moscow on Sunday and Monday.

Putin insists the Red Army was a liberator, not an oppressor, of Eastern Europe.

``Our people not only defended their homeland, they liberated 11 European countries,'' Putin said on Saturday after laying a wreath at a monument to Russia's war dead.

In a recent state of the nation speech he bemoaned the demise of the Soviet Union as ``the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century.'' He has also said Washington should not try to export its own brand of democracy.

Bush said Russia's leaders had made ``great progress'' in the past 15 years.

``In the long run it is the strength of Russian democracy that will determine the greatness of Russia and I believe the Russian people value their freedom and will settle for no less,'' he said.

``As we mark a victory of six decades ago, we are mindful of a paradox. For much of Germany, defeat led to freedom. For much of Eastern and Central Europe, victory brought the iron rule of another empire.''

He also held up the Baltics as examples of successful shifts to democracy, a theme he stressed for nations including Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Belarus.

``These are extraordinary times that we're living in and the three Baltic countries are capable of helping Russia and other countries in this part of the world see the benefits of what it means to live in a free society,'' Bush told a news conference.

But Bush did not back pleas by the Baltic countries for an apology from Russia. ``My hope is that we are able to move on,'' he said.

He later flew to the Netherlands where he will spend Saturday night.

The presidents of Lithuania and Estonia will boycott the May 9 ceremonies in Moscow. Georgia's president will also stay away, but Latvia's president will attend.

All three Baltic nations, whose combined population is now about 6 million, were occupied by the Soviet Union in June 1940 after a pact between Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia which divided up spheres of influence in East Europe.

In 1941, German troops occupied the Baltics and remained there until the end of the war when Soviet troops returned and ruled with an iron fist. The collapse of communism enabled the Baltic states to win their independence in 1991.

Bush also urged free elections in Belarus, which shares borders with Lithuania and Latvia, and ruled out any secret U.S deal with Moscow allowing President Alexander Lukashenko to remain in power. ``We don't make secret deals,'' he said.

Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga wrote in the Washington Post on Saturday: ``Russia would gain immensely by ... expressing its genuine regret for the crimes of the Soviet regime.

``Until Russia does so ... its relations with its immediate neighbors will remain uneasy at best.''

But writing in the French daily Le Figaro, Putin dismissed calls for an apology and accused the Baltic countries of trying to justify their own government's ``discriminatory and reprehensible policy'' toward their Russian-speaking populations.

Police detained about 20 protesters from Latvia's big Russian minority after they hurled smoke bombs in a demonstration against Bush.

``Bush is a horror,'' said protest leader Beness Aija. Posters in another demonstration said: ``Stop the war in Iraq.''

But many Latvians welcome Bush. ``It's important to recognize the struggle that our fathers had against communists and the Soviet Union,'' said Ugis Senbergs, a 50-year-old architect.

[WOSG]

I favor "antipolitical politics," that is, politics not as the technology of power and manipulation, of cybernetic rule over humans or as the art of the utilitarian but politics as one of the ways of seeking and achieving meaningful lives, of protecting them and serving them. I favor politics as practical morality, as service to the truth, as essentially human and humanly measured care for our fellow humans. It is, I presume, an approach which, in this world, is extremely impractical and difficult to apply in daily life. Still, I know no better alternative. --Vaclav Havel Open Letters "Politics and Conscience"

Wonderful sentiment... don't know if it is realistic, but it is a great sentiment.

[anonymoussierra]

"I can't apologize for my fellow country man of their behavior; I hope you don't think of me as idiot and low life guy. I asked them to knock it off; it seems my words are falling on death ears. I hope people would really get their act together and step out from these disgusting personal attacks. It’s not only appalling, but also disrespectful.”

[WOSG]

Destro is not big fan .. or hater (like you are). He is just a cold intellegent and independent watcher who don't like propaganda pro-russian or anti-russian."

Is it 'anti-Russian' to say that Stalin was an evil, horrible dictator? No I think that is truly *pro*-Russian, because Stalin killed more Russians and destroyed more of Russia than anyone else in history!!!

The Russian patriots are men like Solzenitsyn who recorded the crimes of Stalin for history to remember.

[WOSG]

"The Russians view their position as liberating Eastern Europe " Because they are still brainwashed by Stalinistic propaganda.

Yup. The Soviet Russian bear saved the poor sheep of eastern europe from the wolves of nazi Germany... and then decided what to eat for dinner.

[Romanov]

Ok, that's interesting, BUT, to me a guy who killed 10 is just as bad as the guy who killed 20. The GuLAGs, the dekulakification of Russia, the government engineered droughts, the building of the White Canal, the purges, etc., are just as bad as the Nazi racial purification inspired death camps.

[Romanov]

No need for you to apologize at all. It's an emotional topic, and I'd like to believe that most of what has been written on here that is out of line was posted in the "heat of the moment" and not a true reflection of how people actually think

[cornelis]

Havel isn't sentimental. He will be must reading for an ever-increasing bureaucratic U.S.A. You know about him?

[Kozak]

And then our Russian neighbors, went form being allies to occupiers.

Third period (1775–1917). The third period in the history of the Ukrainian Cossacks began with the destruction of the Zaporozhian Sich (1775) and the abolition of the Hetmanate (1780s). The abolition of the Cossack system evoked discontent among the Ukrainian populace, both from the officers, who had lost their political authority and feared they would also lose their rights as nobility (only a part of the Cossack starshyna were granted the rights of the Russian nobility), as well as from the common Cossacks, who, after the decree of 3 May 1783 on the enserfment of commoners, faced the threat of losing their privileges as an estate and even the possibility of enserfment. As a result there were numerous starshyna protests (eg, the ‘Oda na rabstvo’ [Ode on Slavery] of Vasyl Kapnist in 1782 and his mission to Berlin to receive Prussian aid in 1791) on the one hand, and a number of Cossack-peasant disturbances, which sometimes took on dimensions that threatened the existing order (eg, the Turbai uprising in 1789–93), on the other.

[anonymoussierra]

"I hope so; I really would like to hope so. Otherwise, it would be disrespectful and unkind. While I may get flame by some of my fellow country man, I hope we put this aside and concentrate on more evolving threats.”

[anonymoussierra]

"This whole argument is getting ridiculous! Deep breaths everyone..""Right on the money"Thank you"Romanov" "or I would put this in nicer way; gracias amigo; or grazie infinite"

[Destro]

Poles were so ungrateful they elected Communists over Solidarity, so you tell me.

[Admin Moderator]

"Thanks for your input and Understanding"

I have no idea what you're talking about.

[Destro]

Maybe not in the case of the Czechs or Poland but the USSR have every right to control Axis allies Bulgaria, Romania, Hungry and Slovakia (the only nations that joined Germany in the invasion of Poland).

[Destro]

Yes, the Germans were more technically proficient genocidal monsters who considered Slavs subhuman cattle so while the Soviets ended their famine the Nazis would never have stopped there genocidal practices. That is the difference and that is why the Soviets were better than the Nazis.

[Destro]

Nope - not even close - the Nazis killed for ideological purposes - at least under the Soviets once an aim was secured the terror was over - Soviet terror under Stalin kept shifting so there was some relief.

But under the Nazis there was no relief - ALL Jews had to die, ALL Gypsies had to die, ALL Slavs would have to be decimated and turned into human slave chattel for the Master Race - and this was to be done all time no matter how long it took. At least the famine in the Ukraine finally ended - there was to be no end to the death camp under the Nazis until the final solution was fulfilled.

That is the sickening difference.

[Destro]

The newly formed Slovakia was the only nation that joined the German invasion of Poland. Ironically, the Poles joined with the Germans to invade and break up Czechoslovakia.

[Kozak]

No they didn't. The PEOPLE of these countries had no say in those actions. Aren't you of the opinion that Russians are NOT responsible for actions of Soviet Government? Once the Axis friendly governments were defeated the Soviets had no more right to occupy and control them. At that point it was Imperialism plain and simple.

[anonymoussierra]

"Please accept my apology, what I tried to say is; I am thankful you keeping close eye on some of the posts that may be to controversial and disrespectful"

[Kozak]

And England was so grateful to Churchill they tossed him out, so what did that show?

[Destro]

To the victor the spoils.