The following is a translation of the Lithuanian-language statement released today by the central offices of the Social Democratic Party in Vilnius:
Press release
Lithuanian Social Democrat Party faction in parliament
31 January 2012
MP V. P. Andriukaitis received support for a declaration he signed from a representative of the UK House of Commons
Dr. Dennis MacShane greeted MP Vytenis Andriukaitis and expressed deep support for the signature Andriukaitis put to a declaration commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Wannsee conference. The declaration rejected
efforts to “belittle” the horrors of the Jewish genocide, emphasizing that the
“Holocaust is not equal to nor is it possible for it to be completely
equal to the crimes of the Stalinist regime.” Another seven [Lithuanian]
Social Democratic MPs signed, as well as a series of MPs from the German
Bundestag, the UK House of Commons, Slovakia, Finland, Austria, Ireland,
Belgium, Sweden, Romania, Slovenia, Portugal, Hungary, Spain, Latvia, the
Czech Republic and France.
“The words of scorn that came last week from the mouth of Lithuanian
foreign minister Audronius Ažubalis for those social democrats who signed
on to this declaration received a round response from members of the House
of Commons of the United Kingdon,” Social Democratic MP Andriukaitis noted.
MacShane’s letter said he was very saddened that the minister of foreign
affairs, instead of praising the move, had attempted to “blacken” the
characters of those who signed the declaration. Also, the minister’s jokes
about “finding the difference between Hitler and Stalin is only possible
in their moustaches (Hitler’s was smaller)” are inappropriate and out of
place when speaking of the mass murder of approximately six million Jews.
The letter also stressed that the whole world was watching the rise in
antisemitic comments and newspaper articles in Lithuania. The former UK
foreign minister also said every moral Briton and European supports the
position of the signatories.
P.S. Original copy of letter attached [available here]
Lithuanian Social Democrat Party parliamentary faction information
telephone 852396327, 865292009