European Parliament Marks 85th Anniversary of Soviet Mass Deportations
A memorial ceremony in Brussels honored the millions deported in June 1941, including many from the Baltic states.
On Tuesday, a memorial ceremony was held at the European Parliament in Brussels to mark the 85th anniversary of the USSR's mass deportations, which sent tens of thousands of Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians to Siberia and Kazakhstan. The event, organized for the fourth consecutive year on Solidarity Square near the Parliament building, was initiated by the EPP Group.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, MEPs, politically repressed individuals, their relatives, and compatriots read out the names of the deportees. "Today at the European Parliament, we honoured and remembered the more than 3 million people torn from their homelands by the Soviet regime, 85 years ago. Though attempts were made to erase their entire way of life, we continue to bring their stories and memory into the light," Metsola said.
Latvian MEP Sandra Kalniete drew a link between the past and the present. "The memory of those deported on June 14, 1941, serves as a reminder that history must not be forgotten and that it is repeating itself today in Ukraine," she said. She also highlighted the tens of thousands of Ukrainians, including children, who had been deported and not returned to their families due to "Moscow's lack of cooperation."
Riho Terras, MEP and head of the Estonian delegation in the EPP Group, said: "Today is not only about remembering the victims of the past. It is a call to all of Europe. The value of human life and freedom must never be taken for granted. We must stand up and defend these values to ensure that the crimes of the past are never repeated."
On June 14, 1941, Soviet authorities deported more than 10,000 Estonians to Siberia and Kazakhstan to eliminate moral, physical, and legal resistance to the occupation. Of these, approximately 7,000 were women, children, and the elderly. Anyone who resisted was branded an enemy of the state. Many who had contributed to the development of the first Estonian Republic (1918–1941) were executed in Siberia. In total, the Soviet regime deported more than 30,000 people from Estonia between 1941 and 1951, nearly 10,000 of whom were minors.
