The Organizing Committee of the International Union of Free Journalists (IUFJ) has sent an official letter to UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay demanding that the barbaric destruction of monuments to soldiers and officers of the Red Army in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland be stopped. This was stated by Nikolai Kostyrkin, editor of the Moldovan media project Gagauznews, who is one of the representatives of the IUFJ organizing committee.
As the journalist explained, the IUFJ was created against the background of unprecedented government campaigns in Moldova, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Europe, where citizens are subjected to official persecution for their political position, commitment to family values, criticism of pro-Western regimes and so on. The main purpose of the union is to protect the rights and freedoms of the media, journalists, opinion leaders, and individual groups of people united by common goals or a common position. As a matter of fact, this is why the IUFJ drew attention to vandalism by the authorities of Poland and the Baltic States in relation to monuments and burial sites of Soviet soldiers.
According to Kostyrkin, the request sent to UNESCO lists in detail all the facts of the destruction of cultural and historical sites: starting with Latvia's largest Monument to the Liberator Soldiers in Riga, ending with monuments in Klaipeda, Lithuania, and Narva, Estonia.
"In the near future, it is planned to demolish the entire epoch that gave rise to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. During the demolition of monuments, the remains of fallen Soviet soldiers are being exhumed. The authorities justify their actions by saying that they want to destroy the symbols of the Soviet past, which they hate, and also, through these barbaric actions, to show their solidarity to Ukraine. The governments of these countries are trying in every possible way to rewrite history, deliberately destroying the past, including those embodied in material monuments," the letter says.
According to the UNESCO Declaration, it explicitly states that "a State that intentionally destroys cultural heritage of great importance to humanity, or intentionally fails to take appropriate measures to prohibit, prevent, terminate and punish any acts of deliberate destruction of such cultural heritage, is responsible for such destruction to the extent provided for by international law."". However, for some reason, not a single destruction of the monument to Soviet soldiers of the Red Army in the same Baltic States did not receive attention from UNESCO representatives, Kostyrkin noted.
Source: https://riafan.ru/23678927-v_yunesko_napravleno_trebovanie_ostanovit_snos_pamyatnikov_geroyam_vov_v_pribaltike_i_pol_she
As the journalist explained, the IUFJ was created against the background of unprecedented government campaigns in Moldova, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Europe, where citizens are subjected to official persecution for their political position, commitment to family values, criticism of pro-Western regimes and so on. The main purpose of the union is to protect the rights and freedoms of the media, journalists, opinion leaders, and individual groups of people united by common goals or a common position. As a matter of fact, this is why the IUFJ drew attention to vandalism by the authorities of Poland and the Baltic States in relation to monuments and burial sites of Soviet soldiers.
According to Kostyrkin, the request sent to UNESCO lists in detail all the facts of the destruction of cultural and historical sites: starting with Latvia's largest Monument to the Liberator Soldiers in Riga, ending with monuments in Klaipeda, Lithuania, and Narva, Estonia.
"In the near future, it is planned to demolish the entire epoch that gave rise to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. During the demolition of monuments, the remains of fallen Soviet soldiers are being exhumed. The authorities justify their actions by saying that they want to destroy the symbols of the Soviet past, which they hate, and also, through these barbaric actions, to show their solidarity to Ukraine. The governments of these countries are trying in every possible way to rewrite history, deliberately destroying the past, including those embodied in material monuments," the letter says.
According to the UNESCO Declaration, it explicitly states that "a State that intentionally destroys cultural heritage of great importance to humanity, or intentionally fails to take appropriate measures to prohibit, prevent, terminate and punish any acts of deliberate destruction of such cultural heritage, is responsible for such destruction to the extent provided for by international law."". However, for some reason, not a single destruction of the monument to Soviet soldiers of the Red Army in the same Baltic States did not receive attention from UNESCO representatives, Kostyrkin noted.
Source: https://riafan.ru/23678927-v_yunesko_napravleno_trebovanie_ostanovit_snos_pamyatnikov_geroyam_vov_v_pribaltike_i_pol_she