The Third International Parliamentary Conference “Parliamentarians for Peace”, which was dedicated to the topic “80 years since the victory over Nazism: have the lessons of history been learned?” was held in the State Duma. It was organized by the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN) and the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.
Opening the Conference, PARLACEN Chairman Carlos Rene Hernandez Castillo spoke about the leading role of the Soviet people in the victory over Hitler’s fascism. “PARLACEN advocates for the establishment of peace. And here historical experience is important, as is the preservation of historical truth and justice. The revival of Nazism is unacceptable. And here we need collective will and collective responsibility,” he emphasized.
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Ivan Melnikov, in turn, emphasized that in the 1930s, German Nazism, Italian fascism and Japanese militarism united around anti-human attitudes with the goal of reshaping the entire world for themselves and their interests. According to him, the Victory in 1945 was truly common for countries with different histories, cultures and social systems. “For the sake of historical justice, we must remember and record that, with all the help and support of the allies, it was the Soviet Union that made the decisive contribution to this victory. It did not allow itself to be conquered, it ensured a turning point in the war, it liberated not only its borders, but also all of Europe, reaching Hitler’s lair in Berlin. Now they are trying to deny this in the West, distorting history to suit today and its political situation. Not only do they distort, but in some places they even change black and white,” Ivan Melnikov noted.
The First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma pointed out that it is a huge historical and strategic problem and danger that Western European countries, under the slogans of tolerance, turn a blind eye to obvious manifestations of Nazi ideology. “Naturally, impunity, loss of historical memory and shameless rewriting of history lead to the strengthening of neo-Nazi forces. It is our common duty to firmly and in solidarity oppose neo-Nazi revanchism,” he noted.
Chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky, for his part, noted that 2025 also marks the 80th anniversary of the creation of the United Nations, which was created by the states that won World War II. He recalled that among the principles of this organization is the principle of sovereign equality of all states, namely: all states are equal members of the international community regardless of differences. “Unfortunately, in reality we see the embodiment of the principle described in Orwell’s novel Animal Farm: all animals are equal, but some are more equal. Based on this position, the countries that are called the collective West are pursuing a line on establishing a rule-based order. In fact, no one has seen these rules, and no one has adopted them. It’s just that for each individual case, their own rule is adopted, the most convenient in the current situation,” said Leonid Slutsky.
Leonid Slutsky also thanked the position of the Latin American and Caribbean countries that voted for the resolution on combating the glorification of Nazism in the UN. “The position of the Central American Parliament, which five years ago spoke in support of this document, also commands respect. I hope that this year the same position will be shown, and not only in the Central American Parliament, but also in other inter-parliamentary associations of the continent: in the Latin American Parliament, the Andean Parliament, the MERCOSUR Parliament,” he concluded.
The conference is called upon to systematically promote the expansion of the circle of Latin American states focused on constructive interaction with Russia in the parliamentary sphere. This year, more than a hundred parliamentarians from Latin American countries took part in the conference.