Sven Mikser, former Minister of Defense and the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Parliament of Estonia participated as a Key Remarks Speaker in the conference “The Hitler-Stalin Dividing Europe 70 Years Later, How the Molotov – Ribbentrop Pact Impacts the World Today” organized by the Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C. on August 6th.
The conference was hosted by Dr. Lee Edwards, the distinguished fellow of the Heritage Foundation and the President of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. Sven Mikser´s speech was followed by a panel discussion with the participation of Dr. Michael Szporer, Professor of Communications from the University of Maryland and Chris Socha, Senior Policy Advisor for U.S. Senator Jim DeMint from the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe. The key questions examined at the conference were should the “great powers” be permitted to make decisions without regard for their impact on smaller sovereign nations and what role should NATO, the EU and the UN play in minimizing the impact of great power pacts.
Mr. Sven Mikser stated the importance of acknowledging MRP in today’s world in order to avoid similar tragic events in the future. In his opinion, there are still countries today who wish to return to the politics of spheres of influence.
After the event there was a reception held at the Embassy of Estonia including guests from US Baltic and political associations and the representatives of think tanks.
One of the most cynical treaties in modern history was signed on August 23rd, 1939, by Nazi Foreign Minister Ribbentrop and Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov. The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was termed a non-aggression pact but was in fact an aggression pact against free and independent neighboring countries. A secret protocol divided Central and Eastern Europe into spheres of influence between the two totalitarian countries. A week later Nazi Germany invaded Poland, starting World War II, and shortly thereafter the Soviet Union absorbed Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into its empire for more than 50 years.
The US never recognized the occupation of the Baltic States by the Soviet Russia followed by the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact.
The celebration of the 70th anniversary of MRP will continue on August 23rd acknowledging the 20th anniversary of “Baltic Way.” There will be organized a “human chain” from the Estonian Embassy to Latvian Embassy. All the Baltic Embassies doors will be open for public.