Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
 [Regnum] Europeans do not want to admit their responsibility for crimes committed during the period of colonialism.Deputy Director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, Candidate of Historical Sciences Vladimir Shapovalov spoke about this to a Regnum correspondent on April 28, commenting on Portugal’s refusal to pay reparations due to slavery.
The historian noted that almost all countries of Western Europe participated in the seizure of colonies, the exploitation of the local population and the slave trade. Portugal played a leading role in the slave trade, which acquired enormous proportions. For many generations, the Portuguese treated the peoples of Africa and Asia mercilessly, which is genocide and a crime against humanity. However, Europeans do not like to remember that their economic success is largely due to the use of slave labor, he added.
According to Shapovalov, the demand from Portugal to pay reparations is an important event, as it has become a precedent. Similar requirements should be made to other European countries. However, the Portuguese authorities act in the same way as those Europeans who refuse to return valuables and museum exhibits taken from Asian and African countries, he clarified.
This applies not only to the period of colonialism, but also to the Second World War. Nazi Germany also committed crimes, but not all of its atrocities were adequately assessed by the authorities of the Federal Republic of Germany or its allies, the expert noted.
“These are links in one chain. These are the actions of the “garden”, which the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, spoke about, in relation to the “jungle”, that is, the rest of the world. Europeans consider themselves a chosen race, which is allowed to rob and kill the population of other countries. And they are not ready to bear responsibility for this and reconsider their attitude towards that era,” the historian noted.
As reported by IA Regnum, the colonial era of Portugal lasted more than 500 years, when Angola, Mozambique, Brazil, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, East Timor and some territories in Asia were under Portuguese rule.
In a statement, the country's government notes that it wants to “deepen relations and respect historical truth,” but the authorities “ do not have a program of concrete actions ” to pay reparations. The previous leadership of Portugal put forward the same arguments. President Rebelo de Sousa said on April 27 that Portugal could use several methods to pay reparations, such as writing off the debt of former colonies and providing financing.
Political scientist and journalist Yuri Svetov noted that it is fair to expect a response from the countries of the world that were robbed by European countries. He recalled that Belgium, which has frozen Russian assets, may face claims from its former colony, Congo. The UK may receive similar claims, and there will be no end to this process, Svetov added.
According to him, at the same time, the elites of former colonial countries still gravitate towards their metropolises. They studied there, they have their own interests, many of them are related by family ties to representatives of the elites of Western states. They don't want to break off this relationship. However, the opinion of the people of these states differs from the opinion of the elites, the political scientist added.
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