THE EUROPEAN DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

FOR THE VICTIMS OF TOTALITARIAN REGIMES

Tallinn, ESTONIA

 

22nd August

Closed program

 

23rd August

10:00 Government delegations of visitors meet the Estonian Minister of Justice (Joint statement & discussion) (Tõnismägi 5a).

12:00 – 12:45 Flower-laying ceremony at the Freedom Monument

 

12:46 Group photo at the Freedom Monument

12:50 Walk to the conference at the Museum of Occupations (Toompea 8, 10142 Tallinn; www.okupatsioon.ee)

12:30 – 12:55 Registration for the conference

 

13:00 – 13:50 THE CRIMINAL LEGACY OF COMMUNISM AND NAZISM

In the late hours of 23rd of August 1939 a pact was signed in Moscow, which shaped the future of several countries for years to come. The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, named after the former Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov and the German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, was formally a non-aggression pact, but according to the secret additional protocol, annexed to the official document, it concerned the partition of territories and meant the loss of independence for the sovereign states: Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

In memory of this day the European Parliament adopted in 2008 a declaration on the proclamation of August 23 as the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Stalinism and Nazism.

First panel: “Retrospective Truth and Justice”

The first panel will focus on the need to declare Communist regimes criminal and culpable for their crimes against humanity.

Opening remarks by the Estonian Minister of Justice, Mr Urmas Reinsalu,

Speeches:

Mr Juozas Bernatonis, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Lithuania,
Mr Jānis Iesalnieks, Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Latvia
Mr Robert Répássy, Deputy Minister of Justice, Chairman of the Human Rights Working Group, Hungary
Mr Wojciech Węgrzyn, Deputy Minister of Justice, Poland
Mr Gocha Lordkipanidze, Deputy Minister of Justice, Georgia
Mr Petr Jäger, Deputy Minister of Justice, Czech Republic
Mr Michal Kotlárik, Director General of the International Law Department, Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic

13:50 – 14:05 Coffee break

14:05 – 15: 35 Second panel discussion: “Responsibility for Communist Crimes”

The second panel discussion is focused on measures to prevent the rise of Communism and Nazism in the future. 

Moderator: Mr Toomas Hiio, Estonian Institute of Historical Memory

Panelists:

Dr. Neela Winkelmann, Platform of European Memory and Conscience
Dr. Paweł Ukielski, The Institute of National Rememberance, Poland
Tunne Kelam, MEP, member of the Foreign Affairs committee and subcommittee of Security and Defence, Estonia
Mr Áron Máthé, Office of the Committee of National Remembrance, Hungary
Mr Rafał Rogulski, director, European Network Remembrance and Solidarity, Poland

15:35 – 15:45 Closing remarks by the Estonian Minister of Justice, Mr Urmas Reinsalu

15: 45 – 16:30 Reception hosted by the Estonian Institute of Human Rights

16:30 Departure to the hotel

The conference is invitation-only

Registration

The organiser reserves the right to make changes in the schedule and the presenters.