| Submit your comments on this article | |
| Europe | |
| World leaders mark defeat of Nazi Germany | |
| 2005-05-01 | |
| MOSCOW - World leaders convene May 9 in Moscow to commemorate the 60th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany and the end of the bloodiest conflict in history in which 40 to 60 million people were slain in warfare or exterminated in genocide. For Russia, pride in the major part in the World War II victory played by the armed forces of the Soviet Union will be balanced by memories of the losses, civilian and military, widely put at 22-25 million. It will also be an occasion for Russians to to look back at one of the finest moments in their history.
President George W. Bush of the United States, a wartime ally, will be among the leaders present. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, which surrendered unconditionally in May 1945 and became the focus of the Cold War between the former allies, will also be there. Ceremonies will include a military parade in Red Square, with copies of military trucks used during the war. And President Vladimir Putin is expected to use a reception for the visiting dignitaries to burnish Russia's image, tarnished in recent times by such events as the war in Chechnya and the Yukos oil affair. "Every regime likes to show foreign leaders its greatness, and if there isn't any present-day greatness, at least the greatness of yesteryear," Nikolai Petrov, an analyst at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said. For the Russians the ceremonies will evoke mixed feelings: pride, certainly, in their country's major role in the defeat of Nazi Germany, but also memories of the dictatorship of Josef Stalin and a ruthless totalitarianism that took millions of lives. Clear skies are expected in Moscow, thanks to the mobilisation of aircraft to disperse any intrusive clouds, using technology inherited from the Soviet Union. The diplomatic weather, though, may be less sunny. For Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania May 9, 1945 was the date of their forcible integration into the USSR. All three are now members of the EU and NATO and want to give their version of history, even if that means honouring citizens who fought with the Germans against Russia in the belief they were defending their homelands. For Russians raised to revere the memory of the "Great Patriotic War" such an attitude is hard to swallow: so it is perhaps as well that only Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga will make the short journey to Moscow. Moscow will be largely closed down for the commemoration and ordinary people will have little or no access to leaders and events. "That will irritate them as they consider the day as an occasion for everyone,"said Levada. | |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 In Gaza and the West Bank there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. |
| Posted by: Jackal 2005-05-01 12:14:20 PM |