Fabrication of history condemned in Slovakia

Russia and Slovakia vow to prevent attempts to rehabilitate the Nazis and revive nationalistic ideologies, Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Ivan Gasparovic have said in a joint statement after their talks in Bratislava.

"The Russian Federation and the Slovak Republic, bound by a common memory of the victims of the war and of a common fight against the forces that unleashed it, will continue to do all they can so as not to allow the revival or emergence of new forms of nationalistic ideology and enmity, as well as attempts to whitewash the Nazis and their henchmen in this context," the document reads, as quoted by Interfax agency.

Over the last few years, Russia has been embroiled in disputes with some countries over its past, with attempts being made to glorify the Nazis and rewrite key events.

President Medvedev is on an official visit to the European state, marking the 65th anniversary of Bratislava’s liberation from the Nazis by Soviet soldiers. More than 140,000 Soviet servicemen died during the liberation of the territory of the former Czechoslovakia.

“Slovakia will not consign to oblivion the Red Army’s help to the Slovak national rebellion, the joint fight against the occupants which strengthened friendship ties between out peoples,” reads the statement signed by Medvedev and Gasparovic following their meeting.

Russia thanked Slovakia for looking after Soviet soldiers’ burial places in the republic. About 7,000 soldiers were laid to rest on the territory. Both Russia and Slovakia pledged to continue preserving monuments to those who fought against the Nazis during the Second World War.

Medvedev and Gasparovic carried out a special ceremony to pay tribute to Soviet soldiers who lost their lives in the country.

Speaking at a media conference, Medvedev said the liberation of Bratislava is “our joint victory.”

“If that victory was not achieved then – even though by such a high price – Europe would have been different now,” he said.

Moscow and Bratislava are unanimous in the belief that the basic principle for interpreting past events should be impartiality. The states called for an open discussion on the matter by historians from both states.

Medvedev, along with his Slovak counterpart, awarded medals to some of the veterans who fought in those battles.

It all comes prior to a landmark holiday for Russia, the 65th anniversary of the Great Victory in WWII, which will be celebrated on May 9.