Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism

The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism (also known as the Prague Declaration), which was signed on 3 June 2008, was a declaration signed by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, including past signatories of Charter 77

Charter 77

Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in communist Czechoslovakia from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Václav Havel, Jan Patočka, Zdeněk Mlynář, Jiří Hájek, and Pavel Kohout. Spreading the text of the document was...

such as Václav Havel

Václav Havel

Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...

, which called for condemnation of and education about communist

Communism

Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

crimes. The declaration concluded the conference European Conscience and Communism, an international conference that took place at the Czech Senate from 2 to 3 June 2008, hosted by the Senate Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions

Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions (Czech Republic)

The Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions is a committee of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic concerned with matters of education, science, culture, human rights and petitions. It consists of nine members. The current chair of the committee is Jaromír...

, under the auspices of Alexandr Vondra

Alexandr Vondra

Alexandr "Saša" Vondra is a Czech politician, who currently serves as the Senator from Litoměřice and the nation's Minister of Defence. He is also a Deputy Chairman of the Civic Democratic Party...

, Deputy Prime Minister of the Czech Republic for European Affairs, and organized by Jana Hybášková

Jana Hybášková

Jana Hybášková is a Czech politician and diplomat, serving as the Ambassador of the European Union in Iraq . From 2004 to 2009, she was a Member of the European Parliament for the European People's Party...

MEP and Senator Martin Mejstřík

Martin Mejstřík

Martin Mejstřík is a Czech politician and human rights activist. He is notable for his role as a student leader during the Velvet Revolution that led to the ousting of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia in November 1989...

in cooperation with the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic, the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes is a Czech government agency and research institute, founded by the Czech government in 2007. Its purpose is to gather, analyse and make accessible documents from the Nazi and Communist regimes...

and the European People's Party

European People's Party

The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...

's Robert Schuman Foundation.

The conference on European Conscience and Communism received letters of support from President Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy

Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....

(France), Lady Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...

(UK), Secretary of State Jason Kenney

Jason Kenney

Jason T. Kenney, PC, MP is Canada's current Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. He has represented the riding of Calgary Southeast in the Canadian House of Commons since 1997....

(Canada) and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski

Zbigniew Brzezinski

Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski is a Polish American political scientist, geostrategist, and statesman who served as United States National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981....

(United States).

The declaration was preceded by the European Public Hearing on Crimes Committed by Totalitarian Regimes. The declaration initiated a wider process at the European and international level known as the "Prague Process", aimed at reaching the objectives of the declaration.

To date, the most visible proposal set forth by the declaration was the adoption of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

The European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism, also known as the International Black Ribbon Day, which is observed on 23 August, was designated by the European Parliament in 2008/2009 as "a Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian...

(officially known as the International Black Ribbon Day in some countries), adopted by the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

and the OSCE, as the official international remembrance day for victims of totalitarian regimes. On 14 October 2011, the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

Platform of European Memory and Conscience

The Platform of European Memory and Conscience is an educational project of the European Union bringing together government institutions and organisations from EU countries active in research, documentation, awareness raising and education about the crimes of totalitarian regimes...

was established by the governments of the Visegrád Group

Visegrád Group

The Visegrád Group, also called the Visegrád Four or V4, is an alliance of four Central European states – Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – for the purposes of cooperation and furthering their European integration...

and a number of European government institutions and NGOs, as an initiative of the Polish EU presidency

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...

and following decisions by the European Parliament

European Parliament

The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

and the EU Council

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...

supporting the project.

The declaration

The declaration called for:

"reaching an all-European understanding that both the Nazi and Communist totalitarian regimes each to be judged by their own terrible merits to be destructive in their policies of systematically applying extreme forms of terror, suppressing all civic and human liberties, starting aggressive wars and, as an inseparable part of their ideologies, exterminating and deporting whole nations and groups of population; and that as such they should be considered to be the main disasters, which blighted the 20th century"
"recognition that many crimes committed in the name of Communism should be assessed as crimes against humanity serving as a warning for future generations, in the same way Nazi crimes were assessed by the Nuremberg Tribunal"
"formulation of a common approach regarding crimes of totalitarian regimes, inter alia Communist regimes, and raising a Europe-wide awareness of the Communist crimes in order to clearly define a common attitude towards the crimes of the Communist regimes"
"introduction of legislation that would enable courts of law to judge and sentence perpetrators of Communist crimes and to compensate victims of Communism"
"ensuring the principle of equal treatment and non-discrimination of victims of all the totalitarian regimes"
"European and international pressure for effective condemnation of the past Communist crimes and for efficient fight against ongoing Communist crimes"
"recognition of Communism as an integral and horrific part of Europe’s common history"
"acceptance of pan-European responsibility for crimes committed by Communism"
"establishment of 23rd August, the day of signing of the Hitler-Stalin Pact, known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, as a day of remembrance of the victims of both Nazi and Communist totalitarian regimes, in the same way Europe remembers the victims of the Holocaust on January 27th"
"responsible attitudes of National Parliaments as regards acknowledgement of Communist crimes as crimes against humanity, leading to the appropriate legislation, and to the parliamentary monitoring of such legislation"
"effective public debate about the commercial and political misuse of Communist symbols"
"continuation of the European Commission hearings regarding victims of totalitarian regimes, with a view to the compilation of a Commission communication"
"establishment in European states, which had been ruled by totalitarian Communist regimes, of committees composed of independent experts with the task of collecting and assessing information on violations of human rights under totalitarian Communist regime at national level with a view to collaborating closely with a Council of Europe committee of experts"
"ensuring a clear international legal framework regarding a free and unrestricted access to the Archives containing the information on the crimes of Communism"
"establishment of an Institute of European Memory and Conscience"
"organising of an international conference on the crimes committed by totalitarian Communist regimes with the participation of representatives of governments, parliamentarians, academics, experts and NGOs, with the results to be largely publicised world-wide"
"adjustment and overhaul of European history textbooks so that children could learn and be warned about Communism and its crimes in the same way as they have been taught to assess the Nazi crimes"
"the all-European extensive and thorough debate of Communist history and legacy"
"joint commemoration of next year’s 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the massacre in Tiananmen Square and the killings in Romania"

The declaration cites Council of Europe resolution 1481

Council of Europe resolution 1481

In the resolution 1481/2006 of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly issued on January 25, 2006 during its winter session, the Council of Europe "strongly condemns crimes of totalitarian communist regimes"....

as well as "resolutions on Communist crimes adopted by a number of national parliaments".

The declaration states that "millions of victims of Communism and their families are entitled to enjoy justice, sympathy, understanding and recognition for their sufferings in the same way as the victims of Nazism have been morally and politically recognized".

Signatories

The founding signatories included:

Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...

, former dissident and President of Czechoslovakia and President of the Czech Republic
President of the Czech Republic
The President of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic. Unlike his counterparts in Austria and Hungary, who are generally considered figureheads, the Czech President has a considerable role in political affairs...

, signatory of Charter 77
Charter 77
Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in communist Czechoslovakia from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Václav Havel, Jan Patočka, Zdeněk Mlynář, Jiří Hájek, and Pavel Kohout. Spreading the text of the document was...
Joachim Gauck
Joachim Gauck
Joachim Gauck is a German politician, journalist and theologian. After a brief political career during Die Wende in Eastern Germany, the co-founder of the New Forum was elected member of the People's Chamber for the Alliance 90 in 1990...

, former Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives (Social Democrat and Green presidential candidate 2010
German presidential election, 2010
An indirect presidential election was held in Germany on 30 June 2010 following the resignation of Horst Köhler as President of Germany on 31 May 2010. Christian Wulff, the candidate nominated by the three governing parties, the Christian Democratic Union, the Christian Social Union of Bavaria and...

), Germany
Göran Lindblad
Göran Lindblad
Lars Göran Axel Lindblad is a Swedish politician and member of the Moderate Party. He served as a member of the Swedish parliament 1997–2010, representing the constituency of Gothenburg. He served as a replacement member of parliament 1993–1997, and again since 2010...

, Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...

, Member of Parliament, Sweden
Vytautas Landsbergis
Vytautas Landsbergis
Professor Vytautas Landsbergis is a Lithuanian conservative politician and Member of the European Parliament. He was the first head of state of Lithuania after its independence declaration from the Soviet Union, and served as the Head of the Lithuanian Parliament Seimas...

, Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...

, former dissident and head of state of Lithuania
Jana Hybášková
Jana Hybášková
Jana Hybášková is a Czech politician and diplomat, serving as the Ambassador of the European Union in Iraq . From 2004 to 2009, she was a Member of the European Parliament for the European People's Party...

, Member of the European Parliament, Czech Republic (since 2011 the Ambassador of the European Union in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

)
Christopher Beazley
Christopher Beazley
Christopher John Pridham Beazley is a British politician for the Conservative Party, who served as a Member of the European Parliament 1984–1994 and 1999–2009.-Background:...

, Member of the European Parliament, United Kingdom
Tunne Kelam
Tunne Kelam
Tunne-Väldo Kelam MEP is an Estonian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Pro Patria Union , part of the European People's Party....

, Member of the European Parliament, former dissident, Estonia
Jiří Liška (statesman)
Jiří Liška (statesman)
Jiří Liška is a Czech statesman and veterinarian. As of 2009, he is the vice-chairman of the Czech Senate.-Personal life:Liška graduated from veterinary school in Brno in 1974....

, Senator, Vice Chairman of the Senate, Parliament of the Czech Republic
Martin Mejstřík
Martin Mejstřík
Martin Mejstřík is a Czech politician and human rights activist. He is notable for his role as a student leader during the Velvet Revolution that led to the ousting of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia in November 1989...

, Czech Senator
Jaromír Štětina
Jaromír Štetina
Jaromír Štětina is Czech journalist, writer and politician. He is most known as war correspondent from conflict areas of former Soviet Union.Štětina studied University of Economics, Prague...

, Czech Senator
Emanuelis Zingeris
Emanuelis Zingeris
Emanuelis Zingeris is a Lithuanian philologist, museum director, politician, signatory of the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania, currently serving as a Member of the Seimas , chairman of its foreign affairs committee , and Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of...

, Member of Parliament, Lithuania, Chairman, International Commission for the Assessment of Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania, former honorary chairman of the Lithuanian Jewish Community
Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa
Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa
Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa is an official of the Tibetan Government in Exile. He is the Representative of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile for Central and Eastern Europe and the head of the Tibet Bureau in Geneva. He was appointed as Representative on 1 April 2008, succeeding...

, Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama is a high lama in the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The name is a combination of the Mongolian word далай meaning "Ocean" and the Tibetan word bla-ma meaning "teacher"...

for Central and Eastern Europe and head of the Geneva Tibet Bureau
Tibet Bureau (Geneva)
The Tibet Bureau in Geneva is the official representation of the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in Exile for Central and Eastern Europe...
Ivonka Survilla
Ivonka Survilla
Ivonka Survilla or Surviła is the current President of the Belarusian National Republic , the Belarusian government in exile.After emigration through East Prussia, she lived in Denmark, France and Spain before moving to Canada in 1969....

, Leader of the Government-in-exile of Belarus, Canada
Zyanon Paznyak, Former Chairman of the Belarusian Popular Front, Chairman of the Christian Conservative Party of the Belarusian Popular Front, United States
Růžena Krásná
Růžena Krásná
Růžena Krásná is a Czech politician. After WWII, she became regional secretary of the Czech National Social Party in Liberec. Arrested in 1949 by the Soviet occupiers, she was sentenced to death in a public show trial together with MP Emil Weiland. However, the sentence was commuted to life...

, former political prisoner, politician, Czech Republic
Jiří Stránský
Jiří Stránský
Jiří Stránský is a Czech author, playwright, translator, former political prisoner of the communist regime, and human rights advocate....

, former political prisoner, writer, former PEN club chairman, Czech Republic
Václav Vaško
Václav Vaško
Václav Vaško was a Czech diplomat, human rights activist, author of books dealing with the history of the Catholic Church during the Soviet occupation and communist dictatorship, and a former political prisoner of the communist regime.He was awarded the Medal of Merit by President Václav Havel on...

, former political prisoner, diplomat, catholic activist, Czech Republic
Alexandr Podrabinek
Alexandr Podrabinek
Alexandr Podrabinek is a Russian journalist, human rights activist and editor-in-chief of Prima information agency. He is a founding signatory of the Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism.-Dissident activities in the Soviet Union:...

, former dissident and political prisoner, journalist, Russian Federation
Pavel Žáček
Pavel Žáček
Pavel Žáček is a Czech academic and government official. He was the first Director of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, the Czech government agency and research institute tasked with investigation of the crimes of the Communist regime of Czechoslovakia that was declared to be...

, Director, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes is a Czech government agency and research institute, founded by the Czech government in 2007. Its purpose is to gather, analyse and make accessible documents from the Nazi and Communist regimes...

, Czech Republic
Miroslav Lehký, Vice-director, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes
The Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes is a Czech government agency and research institute, founded by the Czech government in 2007. Its purpose is to gather, analyse and make accessible documents from the Nazi and Communist regimes...

, Czech Republic
Łukasz Kamiński, Vice-director, Institute of National Remembrance
Institute of National Remembrance
Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation is a Polish government-affiliated research institute with lustration prerogatives and prosecution powers founded by specific legislation. It specialises in the legal and historical sciences and...

(IPN), Poland (from 2011 President of the IPN)
Michael Kißener
Michael Kißener
Michael Kißener is a German historian and Professor at the University of Mainz. His research is focused on the history of the national socialist regime and the opposition against it....

, professor of history, Johann Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Eduard Stehlík
Eduard Stehlík
Eduard Stehlík is a Czech historian and writer, and Vice Director at the Institute for Military History in Prague.He graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy at Charles University, and has worked at the Institute for Military History since 1989, focusing on Czechoslovak military history. He has...

, historian, Vice-director, Institute for Military History, Czech Republic
Karel Straka, historian, Institute for Military History, Czech Republic
Jan Urban, journalist, Czech Republic
Jaroslav Hutka
Jaroslav Hutka
Jaroslav Hutka is a Czech musician, composer, songwriter, and democracy and human rights activist. He is a signatory of the Charter 77 and the 2008 Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism....

, former dissident, songwriter, signatory of Charter 77
Charter 77
Charter 77 was an informal civic initiative in communist Czechoslovakia from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Václav Havel, Jan Patočka, Zdeněk Mlynář, Jiří Hájek, and Pavel Kohout. Spreading the text of the document was...

, Czech Republic
Lukáš Pachta, political scientist and writer, Czech Republic

The declaration was subsequently also signed by around 50 members of the European Parliament and other politicians from around the world, including Els de Groen, Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis

Girts Valdis Kristovskis

Ģirts Valdis Kristovskis is a Latvian politician and the current Foreign Minister of Latvia in the Cabinet of Valdis Dombrovskis....

, György Schöpflin

György Schöpflin

György Schöpflin is a Hungarian academic and politician. He is a Member of the European Parliament for Fidesz and the European People's Party, and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs...

, Gisela Kallenbach

Gisela Kallenbach

Gisela Kallenbach is a German politician. She served as a Member of the European Parliament for Alliance '90/The Greens, part of the European Greens, from 2004 to 2009. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Parliament of Saxony...

, Eugenijus Gentvilas

Eugenijus Gentvilas

Eugenijus Gentvilas is a Lithuanian politician, signatory of the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania and Member of the European Parliament for the Liberal and Centre Union , sitting with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. He was mayor of Klaipėda from 1997 to 2001...

, Michael Gahler

Michael Gahler

Michael Gahler is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament for Hesse. He is a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party....

, Zuzana Roithová

Zuzana Roithová

Zuzana Roithová is a Czech politician and Member of the European Parliament with the Christian Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party, part of the European People's Party and is vice-chair of the European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.She is a...

, Inese Vaidere

Inese Vaidere

Inese Vaidere is a Latvian politician, serving as a Member of the European Parliament .She was formerly Vice-Mayor of Riga and member of the Saeima. She was elected to the European Parliament in 2004 for the For Fatherland and Freedom/LNNK list; part of the Union for a Europe of Nations group...

, Hans-Josef Fell

Hans-Josef Fell

Hans-Josef Fell is a member of the Green Party in the German Parliament. Fell framed the German Renewable Energy legislation, together with Hermann Scheer...

, Nikolay Mladenov

Nikolay Mladenov

Nickolay Evtimov Mladenov is a Bulgarian politician who has been Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov since 2010. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 2007 to 2009 and was Minister of Defense from 27 July 2009 to 27 January...

, József Szájer

József Szájer

József Szájer, is a Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament with the Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union party, a Vice-Chairman of the European People's Party and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection.Szájer is a substitute for the...

, Peter Stastny

Peter Stastny

Peter Šťastný , also known colloquially as "Peter the Great" and "Stosh", is a retired Slovak professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League from 1980 to 1995. During his time with the Quebec Nordiques, Stastny became a Canadian citizen. Since 2004, he has also served as a...

, Ari Vatanen

Ari Vatanen

Ari Pieti Uolevi Vatanen is a Finnish rally driver turned politician and Member of the European Parliament 1999–2009. Vatanen won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1981 and the Paris Dakar Rally four times....

, Wojciech Roszkowski

Wojciech Roszkowski

Wojciech Roszkowski is a Polish economist and politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Silesian Voivodeship with the Law and Justice, part of the Union for a Europe of Nations and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Budgets.Roszkowski is a substitute for the Committee on...

, László Tőkés

László Tokés

László Tőkés is a Romanian politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament and Vice President of the European Parliament ....

, Charlotte Cederschiöld

Charlotte Cederschiöld

Ulla Margareta Charlotte Cederschiöld is a Swedish politician and Member of the European Parliament. She is a member of the Moderate Party, part of the European People's Party - European Democrats group....

, László Surján

László Surján

László Surján László Surján László Surján (born on 7 September 1941 in Kolozsvár, (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania) is a Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament with the FIDESZ, Member of the Bureau of the European People's Party and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on...

, and Milan Zver

Milan Zver

Milan Zver is a Slovenian politician, sociologist and political scientist. He currently serves as vice-president of the Slovenian Democratic Party. Between 2004 and 2008, he was Minister for Education and Sports in Janez Janša's centre right government...

.

The declaration was also signed by Asparoukh Panov (Vice-President of the Liberal International

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

), poet and civil rights activist Natalya Gorbanevskaya

Natalya Gorbanevskaya

Natalya Yevgenyevna Gorbanevskaya is a Russian poet, translator of Polish literature and civil rights activist. She is also a citizen of Poland.- Life :Gorbanevskaya graduated from Leningrad University in 1964 and became a technical editor and translator...

, philosopher André Glucksmann

André Glucksmann

André Glucksmann is a French philosopher and writer, and member of the French new philosophers.-Early years:André Glucksmann was born in 1937, in Boulogne-Billancourt, the son of Ashkenazi Jewish parents from Romania and Czechoslovakia. He studied in Lyon, and later enrolled at École normale...

, and former Yugoslav dissident Ljubo Sirc

Ljubo Sirc

Ljubo Sirc CBE is a British-Slovene economist and prominent dissident from the former Yugoslavia.-Life and work:He was born in Kranj, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in a wealthy and renowned family of Slovene and Yugoslav patriots...

Impact and aftermath (the "Prague Process")

Following its announcement, a number of political developments have taken place relating to the issues raised in the Prague Declaration. These developments have been referred to as the "Prague Process" by the Reconciliation of European Histories Group

Reconciliation of European Histories Group

The Reconciliation of European Histories Group is an informal all-party group in the European Parliament involved in promoting the Prague Process in all of Europe, aimed at coming to terms with the totalitarian past in many countries of Europe...

, an all-party group in the European Parliament

European Parliament

chaired by Sandra Kalniete

Sandra Kalniete

Sandra Kalniete is a Latvian politician, author, diplomat and independence movement leader. She served as Foreign Minister of Latvia 2002–2004 and as European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries in 2004...

.

The European Parliament

European Parliament

proclaimed the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

on September 23, 2008 with the support of 409 MEPs from all political factions and called for its implementation by the member states in its 2009 resolution on European conscience and totalitarianism

European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism

The European Parliament resolution of 2 April 2009 on European conscience and totalitarianism was a resolution of the European Parliament adopted on 2 April 2009 by a vote of 533-44 with 33 abstentions, in which the European Parliament condemned totalitarian crimes and called for the recognition of...

, which also called for the establishment of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

Platform of European Memory and Conscience

. In 2010 the European Commission reported that the Day of Remembrance was commemorated by five Member States. August 23 has also been adopted by Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

as the Black Ribbon Day.

On 18 September 2008, The Greens–European Free Alliance hosted a public hearing in the European Parliament on "Totalitarian Regimes and the opening of the secret files archives in Central and Eastern Europe," based on the Prague Declaration, and organized by MEPs Milan Horáček

Milan Horácek

Milan Horáček , is a Czech-born German politician, a founding member of the German Green Party, a former member of the Bundestag and a former Member of the European Parliament .From 1965 to 1967 his political activism got him into trouble with the Czechoslovak communist regime, and he was arrested...

and Gisela Kallenbach

Gisela Kallenbach

. The official program stated that:

"The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism should be the common basis for the research on and evaluation of communist regimes in all countries in East-Europe. The ideology of Communism and Nazism is responsible and the main reason for committed crimes against humanity. Providing objective comprehensive information about the Communist totalitarian past leading to a deeper understanding and discussion is a necessary condition for future integration of all European nations".

On 18 September 2008, the Bulgarian Parliament officially endorsed the Prague Declaration.

In the European Parliament, an informal group of MEPs named Reconciliation of European Histories Group

Reconciliation of European Histories Group

has been established. Its objective is to "reconcile the different historical narratives in Europe and to consolidate them into a united European memory of the past". It is chaired by former EU Commissioner Sandra Kalniete

Sandra Kalniete

.

On 18 March 2009, the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

in co-operation with MEPs supporting the Prague Declaration hosted the European Public Hearing on European Conscience and Crimes of Totalitarian Communism: 20 Years After

European Public Hearing on European Conscience and Crimes of Totalitarian Communism: 20 Years After

The European Public Hearing on European Conscience and Crimes of Totalitarian Communism: 20 Years After was a European public hearing organised by the Czech Presidency of the European Union in the European Parliament on 18 March 2009...

, as "the third step towards the establishment of a European platform of memory and conscience

Platform of European Memory and Conscience

to support the activities of institutions engaged in reconciling with totalitarian regimes in Europe". Czech Deputy Prime Minister Alexandr Vondra

Alexandr Vondra

, European Commissioner Ján Figeľ

Ján Figel

Ján Figeľ is a Slovakian politician, previously European Commissioner for Education, Training & Culture. His area of responsibility also covered sport, youth, and relations with civil society.-Early career:...

and EP Vice President Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca

Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca

Alejo Vidal-Quadras Roca is a Spanish Member of the European Parliament, and a radiation physicist. He was elected on the People's Party ticket and sits with the European People's Party group....

participated in the hearing. The conclusions called for "the establishment of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience" and supported the proclamation of the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

.

On 28 April 2009, the governments of Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

, Latvia

Latvia

Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...

and Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

were thanked by the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering

Hans-Gert Pöttering

Hans-Gert Pöttering is a German conservative politician , and was the President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009...

, for their efforts to better inform Western Europe on the totalitarianism of the Soviet Union. Pöttering brought up the classic study on totalitarianism

The Origins of Totalitarianism

The Origins of Totalitarianism is a book by Hannah Arendt which describes and analyzes the two major totalitarian movements of the twentieth century, Nazism and Stalinism...

by Hannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt

Hannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...

, which developed "the scientific basis criteria to describe totalitarianism," concluding that "both totalitarian systems (Stalinism and Nazism) are comparable and terrible," Pöttering said.

On 16 June 2009, the EU General Affairs Council

General Affairs Council

The General Affairs Council is a configuration of the Council of the European Union and meets once a month. Meetings bring together the Foreign Ministers of the Member States...

adopted conclusions stating that, "in order to strengthen European awareness of crimes committed by totalitarian regimes, the memory of Europe’s troubled past must be preserved, as reconciliation would be difficult without remembrance."

On 3 July 2009, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections...

(OSCE) adopted the Vilnius Declaration

Vilnius Declaration

The Vilnius Declaration was a declaration adopted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe during the 18th annual session of its parliamentary assembly, that took place in Vilnius from 29 June to 3 July 2009...

, which stated that "in the twentieth century European countries experienced two major totalitarian regimes, Nazi and Stalinist, which brought about genocide, violations of human rights and freedoms, war crimes and crimes against humanity," urged all OSCE members to take a "united stand against all totalitarian rule from whatever ideological background," condemned "the glorification of the totalitarian regimes, including the holding of public demonstrations glorifying the Nazi or Stalinist past," and expressed support for the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

.

On 25 February 2010, the Declaration on Crimes of Communism

Declaration on Crimes of Communism

The Declaration on Crimes of Communism is a declaration signed on 25 February 2010 by several prominent European politicians, former political prisoners, human rights advocates and historians, which calls for the condemnation of communism...

was adopted, concluding the international conference Crimes of the Communist Regimes, which was organized by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

and the Government of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the European Parliament

European Parliament

, the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

, and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation

Konrad Adenauer Foundation

The Konrad Adenauer Foundation is a German political party foundation associated with the centre-right Christian Democratic Union . The foundation's headquarters are located in Saint Augustine and Berlin. Globally, the KAS has 78 offices and runs programs in over 100 countries...

, under the patronage of Jan Fischer

Jan Fischer (politician)

Jan Fischer was Prime Minister of the caretaker government of Czech Republic in 2009−2010. A lifelong statistician, he was previously the president of the Czech Statistical Office since April 2003.- Personal life and education :...

, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, and Heidi Hautala

Heidi Hautala

-External links:* * *...

(Greens), Chair of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the European Parliament

Subcommittee on Human Rights

The Subcommittee on Human Rights is a subcommittee of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament. The committee is chaired by Barbara Lochbihler .- See also :* Sakharov Prize...

, among others. The 2010 declaration reiterated many of the suggestions of the Prague Declaration, stating that "the justice done to perpetrators of Communist crimes over the past 20 years has been extremely unsatisfactory" and calling for "the creation of a new international court with a seat within the EU for the crimes of communism".

The European Union's Stockholm Programme

Stockholm Programme

The Stockholm Programme is a five-year plan with guidelines for justice and home affairs of the member states of the European Union for the years 2010 through 2015.- Contents :...

states that:

"The Union is an area of shared values, values which are incompatible with crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes, including crimes committed by totalitarian regimes. Each Member State has its own approach to this issue but, in the interests of reconciliation, the memory of those crimes must be a collective memory, shared and promoted, where possible, by us all."

As the European Union

European Union

officially marked the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism

in 2010, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact was described by the European Parliament

European Parliament

's President Jerzy Buzek

Jerzy Buzek

Jerzy Karol Buzek is a Polish engineer, academic lecturer and politician who was the ninth post-Cold War Prime Minister of Poland from 1997 to 2001...

as "the collusion of the two worst forms of totalitarianism in the history of humanity".

In December 2010, the foreign ministers of six EU member statesBulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, Hungary

Hungary

Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

, Latvia

Latvia

, Lithuania

Lithuania

, and Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

called upon the European Commission to make "the approval, denial or belittling of communist crimes" an EU-wide criminal offence. "Alongside the prosecution and punishment of criminals, the denial of every international crime should be treated according to the same standards, to prevent favourable conditions for the rehabilitation and rebirth of totalitarian ideologies," the foreign ministers wrote in a letter to justice commissioner Viviane Reding

Viviane Reding

Viviane Reding is a Luxembourgian politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship. Before starting a professional career as a journalist for the leading newspaper in Luxembourg, the Luxemburger Wort, she obtained a doctorate in human sciences...

. Denial of all totalitarian crimes has been outlawed in four member states: Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, the Czech Republic

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

, Lithuania

Lithuania

and Hungary

Hungary

. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis

Audronius Ažubalis

Audronius Ažubalis is a Lithuanian journalist and politician, currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania . He was a member of the Seimas 1996–2000, and was elected again in 2004. He has chaired the foreign affairs committee of the Seimas...

, who initiated the letter, described it as an "alarm bell" to Brussels, adding that "everybody knows about the crimes of Nazism, but only part of Europe is aware of the crimes of communism". Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg

Karel Schwarzenberg

Karel Schwarzenberg or Karel, Prince of Schwarzenberg , 7...

said that the denial of the crimes of communism is analogous to denying the crimes of Nazism, which in many EU countries is a criminal offense, arguing that "there is a fundamental concern here that totalitarian systems be measured by the same standard". However, The European Commission rejected the proposal, citing an independent report it had commissioned to examine the existing legal framework of member states. An EU justice spokesman said that "the different member states have wildly differing approaches" and that "at this stage, the conditions to make a legislative proposal have not been met". He argued that a previous decision permitting the crafting of rules targeting racism and xenophobia was not applicable to the proposal, arguing "the bottom line is, obviously, what they did was horrendous, but communist regimes did not target ethnic minorities."

In a report from the European Commission

European Commission

on 12 January 2011, the European Commission stated that:

"The Commission is committed to contributing, in line with its responsibilities, to the promotion of the memory of the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes in Europe. The Commission considers that it is important to address knowledge gaps concerning the totalitarian past of all Member States [...] The memory and awareness of the tragic past and of the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes should bring together the peoples of Europe. It is important to contribute to the recognition of, and support for, all victims of the totalitarian regimes that have devastated Europe. [...] This will also confirm the importance of the values of respect for human dignity, freedom and democracy on which the European Union is founded."

On 29 March 2011, a public hearing on "What do Young Europeans know about Totalitarianisms?" took place in the European Parliament. The hearing was hosted by the European People's Party under the patronage of the Hungarian Presidency of the European Union

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

, and organized by MEPs Sandra Kalniete

Sandra Kalniete

, László Tőkés

László Tokés

László Tőkés is a Romanian politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament and Vice President of the European Parliament ....

and Milan Zver

Milan Zver

. The panel included, among others, Joseph Daul

Joseph Daul

Joseph Daul is a French politician and Member of the European Parliament for the East of France. He is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement , a member-party of the European People's Party...

, Heidi Hautala

Heidi Hautala

-External links:* * *...

, Doris Pack

Doris Pack

Doris Pack is a German politician and Member of the European Parliament . She served as a member of the Bundestag 1974–1983 and 1985–1989. She is a member of the conservative Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party...

, Hubertus Knabe

Hubertus Knabe

Hubertus Knabe is a German historian, human rights activist and the scientific director of the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, a museum and memorial in a notorious former Stasi torture prison in Berlin. Knabe is noted for several works on oppression in the former communist states of Eastern...

, György Schöpflin

György Schöpflin

, and Daniel Herman

Daniel Herman

Daniel Herman is a Czech government official and former Catholic priest. He has been spokesman of the Czech Bishops' Conference. In 2010, he was appointed Director of the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes by the Czech government.He was born in České Budějovice, and began studying...

. The purpose of the hearing was "to focus on the importance to provide objective and comprehensive information about the totalitarian past, as public discourse can lead to a better, deeper understanding of our shared history and a greater feeling of unity. There is a need of an adjustment and overhaul of European history textbooks and curricula, so that young generations can learn and be warned about all the totalitarianisms in the same way as they have been taught to assess the crimes of the Nazi; to keep the memories of the millions of victims alive, to warn future generations of the dangers of totalitarianism, and to promote a greater feeling of unity and understanding among Europeans." László Tőkés

László Tokés

László Tőkés is a Romanian politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament and Vice President of the European Parliament ....

MEP, Vice President of the European Parliament (EPP), said in his address during the hearing that: "War crimes, genocide and mass murder—irrespective of what kind of totalitarian dictatorship committed them—will remain crimes against humanity, therefore we must stand up against them". Milan Zver

Milan Zver

MEP (EPP) stressed the need "to strengthen education in democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

, where schools, media, science and politicians bear the most important role".

In May 2011, the Czech Senate almost unanimously demanded that the European Commission "should in the future actively seek to create conditions for the punishment of crimes based on class and political hatred in the whole EU."

On 10 June 2011, the EU Justice and Home Affairs Council

Council of the European Union

, that is, the justice and home affairs ministers of all EU Member States, adopted conclusions stating, inter alia, that it reaffirmed "the importance of raising awareness of the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes, of promoting a shared memory of these crimes across the Union and underlining the significant role that this can play in preventing the rehabilitation or rebirth of totalitarian ideologies," and highlighted "the Europe-wide Day of Remembrance of the victims of the totalitarian regimes (23 August)," inviting "Members States to consider how to commemorate it."

On 23 August 2011, the Polish Presidency of the European Union

Presidency of the Council of the European Union

organized a conference on the occasion of the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes. The EU presidency cited the Justice and Home Affairs Council conclusions of 10 June and the EU's Stockholm Programme

Stockholm Programme

The Stockholm Programme is a five-year plan with guidelines for justice and home affairs of the member states of the European Union for the years 2010 through 2015.- Contents :...

, which emphasizes that "remembrance of shared history is necessary to understand contemporary Europe." European officials adopted the Warsaw Declaration for the European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarian Regimes. The Warsaw Declaration vows that the suffering of victims of totalitarian regimes "will not sink into oblivion." The declaration states that "crimes of totalitarian regimes in Europe should be acknowledged and condemned, regardless of their type and ideology." Justice Minister Krzysztof Kwiatkowski

Krzysztof Kwiatkowski

Krzysztof Kwiatkowski is a Polish politician, Minister of Justice of Poland in Cabinet of Donald Tusk. He is also a member of Senate . He did not die in that one plane crash.- External links :* *...

said that the "Warsaw Declaration is a unanimous agreement of all EU member states that we have to do everything we can to prevent any totalitarian regime from reviving in all the countries making up one big European family." Senate Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz

Bogdan Borusewicz

Bogdan Michał Borusewicz, is the Speaker in the Polish Senate since 20 October 2005. Borusewicz was a democratic opposition activist under the Communist regime, a member of the Polish parliament for three terms and first Senate Speaker to serve two terms in this office.Borusewicz briefly served...

said that "the 20th century was the time of two totalitarianisms, ideologically different but functioning in a similar way." The EU called for launching and supporting educational and information initiatives on totalitarian regimes.

On 14 October 2011, the founding document of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience

Platform of European Memory and Conscience

, originally proposed by the Prague Declaration, was signed in Prague. An accompanying event of the summit of the Prime Ministers of the Visegrád Group

Visegrád Group

, the ceremony took place in the presence of Prime Ministers Petr Nečas

Petr Necas

Petr Nečas is the current Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and Leader of the Civic Democratic Party. He was sworn into office on 28 June 2010....

, Donald Tusk

Donald Tusk

Donald Franciszek Tusk is a Polish politician who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2007. He was a co-founder and is chairman of the Civic Platform party....

, and Viktor Orbán

Viktor Orbán

Viktor Orbán is a Hungarian populist and conservative politician and current Prime Minister of Hungary...

, and Vice-President of the European Parliament László Tökés

László Tokés

László Tőkés is a Romanian politician of Hungarian ethnicity, currently serving as a Member of the European Parliament and Vice President of the European Parliament ....

. Bringing together government institutions and organisations from EU countries active in research, documentation, awareness raising and education about the crimes of totalitarian regimes, the platform's member institutions include the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes

, the Institute of National Remembrance

Institute of National Remembrance

Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation is a Polish government-affiliated research institute with lustration prerogatives and prosecution powers founded by specific legislation. It specialises in the legal and historical sciences and...

, the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial

Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial

The Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial is a museum and memorial located in Berlin's north-eastern Lichtenberg district in the locality of Alt-Hohenschönhausen, part of the former borough of Hohenschönhausen...

, the Federal Commissioner for the Stasi Archives, and other institutions.

On 19 October 2011, the European People's Party group hosted a public hearing in the European Parliament

European Parliament

on the memory of the crimes committed by totalitarian regimes in Europe, chaired by Sandra Kalniete

Sandra Kalniete

and with an introduction speech by Doris Pack

Doris Pack

, Chair of the Culture and Education Committee.

Criticism

The Prague Declaration has been met with criticism from some groups; The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...

states: "It has attracted support in bodies such as the European Parliament

European Parliament

. But it has infuriated some, if not all, Jewish activists; left-wing politicians (mostly from western Europe); and inevitably, Russia".

The Communist Party of Greece

Communist Party of Greece

Founded in 1918, the Communist Party of Greece , better known by its acronym, ΚΚΕ , is the oldest party on the Greek political scene.- Foundation :...

opposes the Prague Declaration and has criticized "the new escalation of the anti-communist hysteria led by the EU council, the European Commission and the political staff of the bourgeois class in the European Parliament".

Notable critics also include Efraim Zuroff

Efraim Zuroff

Efraim Zuroff is an Israeli historian of American origin, who has played a role in bringing Nazis indicted for war crimes to trial...

of the Simon Wiesenthal Center

Simon Wiesenthal Center

The Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977 and named for Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time...

, and Lithuanian politician Leonidas Donskis

Leonidas Donskis

Leonidas Donskis, Ph.D., is a Member of the European Parliament , a philosopher, political theorist, historian of ideas, social analyst, and political commentator....

MEP, who accuse the declaration of equating Soviet and Nazi crimes. According to their argument, the Holocaust should not be equated with other tragedies. Zuroff describes the declaration as "the main manifesto of the false equivalency movement", and claims it is supported by right-wing parties in countries in Eastern Europe. Donskis believes: "Historical and political evidence doesn't support the theory that the Soviet Union exterminated Lithuanians on national or ethnic grounds."

On 29 October 2009, UK politician and chair of the All-Party Group against Antisemitism John Mann

John Mann

John Mann may refer to:* John Mann , British actor* John Mann * John Mann , farmer and author from New Brunswick, Canada* John Mann , English cricketer...

MP characterised the declaration as "A sinister document, it uses the smokescreen of legitimate concerns about the evils of Communist regimes to insist that Soviet Communism and Nazi Fascism be declared equal."

On the 7 February 2011, UK parliamentarian Denis MacShane

Denis MacShane

Denis MacShane is a British politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Rotherham since the 1994 by-election and served as the Minister for Europe from 2002 until 2005, as well as being a current Policy Council member for Labour Friends of Israel.On 14 October 2010, it was announced...

MP delivered a letter to the Lithuanian ambassador in London, signed by Lord Janner of Braunstone QC and academics opposed to the Prague Declaration, accusing the Lithuanian government of using "embassy-sponsored events" to manipulate the debate: "We find these events consistent with the Government’s nationalistic rewriting of history, and with its efforts to limit the freedom of debate on 'Double Genocide' and the Prague Declaration". Sarunas Liekis, a Yiddish studies professor from Vilnius, criticized the actions of both sides of the debate, stating that "we are squeezed between two Talibans," and suggesting that "the same obstinacy that plagues Lithuania’s relations with Poland lies behind politicians’ refusal to reverse their mistakes on Jewish issues."

Barry Rubin

Barry Rubin

Barry Rubin is an American-born Israeli expert in terrorism. He is a professor at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel and the director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center of the IDC, and a senior fellow at the Interdisciplinary Center's International Policy...

, however, argues that "it is in the interest of Jews and Israelis to support the Prague Declaration which seeks to discuss, expose and recognize Communist crimes of war in the same way Nazi crimes were". Rubin criticizes "a tiny group of people" of waging "a relentless campaign" against the declaration, and "[making] Jews the defenders of the Communist totalitarian system that murdered and tortured millions of people, including hundreds of thousands of Jews". Efraim Zuroff

Efraim Zuroff

Efraim Zuroff is an Israeli historian of American origin, who has played a role in bringing Nazis indicted for war crimes to trial...

responded: "The opposition to the Prague Declaration has never been based on a desire to hide communist crimes, nor do we oppose any initiative to honor and commemorate their victims or punish those guilty of committing those crimes."