Seimas invites the public to critically assess the propaganda denying the occupation and its consequences and diminishing the anti-Soviet resistance

Press release, 16 June 2020

While commemorating the eightieth anniversary of the first occupation of the Republic of Lithuania began by the USSR on 15 June 1940, the Seimas adopted a Resolution on the Soviet Occupation of the Republic of Lithuania in 1940 and its Consequences (draft No XIIIP-4908). The document stresses the necessity to continue investigation into the period of the Soviet occupation, especially the armed anti-Soviet and anti-Nazi resistance, and dissemination of the findings to the general public.

‘The essence of this resolution is very simple – to tell yourself and the world the whole truth and to testify the truth that is being distorted. Possibly around 30 million innocent citizens of Europe and the world went through the gulags, suffered terrible deprivation and around 10 million died and never returned home. There is an attempt to conceal this whole part of the history and to ignore it while erecting and re-erecting the monuments to Stalin again. Therefore, we, Lithuanians, cannot stop speaking about it,’ said Paulius Saudargas, Member of the Seimas.

The Resolution calls on the Government to more actively support the work of assessing the damages of the occupations by providing the necessary funding and demand compensation for the damages of the occupation from the Russian Federation as a successor of the rights of the USSR that occupied Lithuania.

With the Resolution, the Seimas calls on the public to critically assess the propaganda denying the occupation and its consequences and diminishing the anti-Soviet resistance. The adopted document highlights that the state should offer its support through the Lithuanian education system, public education in media, cultural institutions, pop culture and all other means appropriate in a democratic country.

The Resolution was adopted unanimously by 114 votes in favour.

Saulė Eglė Trembo, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department,

tel. +370 5 239 6203, e-mail: [email protected]