Verbatim report of proceedings

Wednesday, 15 January 2020 - Strasbourg

Distortion of European history and remembrance of the Second World War (topical debate)

  Reinhard Bütikofer, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Madam President, I want to thank Commissioner Jourová for having Poland’s back in this public discussion. Recently, we have been having an increasing number of historical debates, and it’s not easy dealing with these topics. It’s not our role and it’s not our responsibility to exonerate anybody from their historical record.

Historical truth is not at the disposal of the powerful, nor at the disposal even of parliamentary majorities, but we must defend the facts as we best know them. That also applies to Soviet aggression, to Soviet suffering and to the role of appeasement in the run—up to the Second World War. But when a victim is being turned into the perpetrator of a crime, we have to speak up, and if a wolf cries wolf, we should call it out.

I believe that these kinds of conversations are rarely just about the past. Shifting historical blame can easily be a first step in the direction of identifying a target for more than just rhetorical aggression. Europe should beware.