Estonian Minister of Justice responds to Greek Minister on Communisn in letter

Estonian Minister of Justice Urmas Reinsalu responded to his Greek counterpart, Stavros Kontonis following the uproar caused by the decision by Greece to not participate in the recent European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism in Estonia.

In his letter, the Estonian Minister of Justice talks about the incompatibility between the principles of human rights, democracy and the rule of law and regimes and political movements and ideologies that deny them. “

At this level, there is no difference between Nazism, Fascism and Communism”, he noted in his letter to the Greek Minister. “Our values ​​are human rights, democracy and respect for the laws and I do not see an alternative to them. That is why I am opposed to any ideology or political movement that opposes these values. With this reasoning, there is no difference between Nazism, Fascism and Communism.

The fate of our two countries was different in the 20th century. In Estonia, you do not have to be a historian to know what happened in Greece during the Nazi occupation. Estonia, however, suffered from two different possessions: Nazi occupation and Soviet occupation, which lasted until 1991”, he said in his latter to Mr. Kontonis.

“With the experience of my country, I clearly disdagree with you that communism also had positive aspects. While it is true that the Red Army played an important role in the victory of the Allies against the Nazi forces, the Red Army was the one who did not liberate the countries of Eastern Europe and did not allow their Nazi-conquered people to form their own destiny”, he noted.

“There can be no freedom, democracy and respect for the laws in communist ideology. We know that this has been attempted everywhere except in Australia. It has always led to insurmountable economic disasters and violation of laws”, he said.