Unofficial translation

DRAFT ACT

 STATEMENT OF THE RIIGIKOGU

PAYING TRIBUTE TO THE ESTONIAN CITIZENS

 On the basis of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia and proceeding from the fact that according to international law, the legal continuity of the Republic of Estonia, that was occupied in World War II, was not interrupted,

The Riigikogu pays tribute to the citizens of the Republic of Estonia who, in the years of Soviet or Nazi German occupation, acted in the name of de facto restoration of the Republic of Estonia.

The Riigikogu condemns the repressive politics of the Soviet Union and National Socialist Germany and the activities of the persons who, in the service of these regimes, have committed crimes against humanity, irrespective of their citizenship and location of commitment of these crimes.  

EXPLANATORY LETTER 

Like all democratic states that remember their history, Estonia has the moral duty to acknowledge the citizens who contributed to the foundation of our state and de facto restoration of its independent statehood. Paying tribute to those who offered resistance to the occupation regimes with words and deeds, the Parliament of Estonia emphasizes: nobody who has stood for the Republic of Estonia is ignored or forgotten. 

Through different resolutions, the Republic of Estonia has unequivocally condemned both Nazi and Communist crimes (Resolution of EP 2557 (2009); Resolution 1482 of the PA of CoE (2006); Resolution 1096 of the PA of CoE (1996); Statement of the Riigikogu on the Crimes of Occupation Regimes in Estonia, RT I 2002, 52, 326; Statement of the Government of Estonia on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of World War II). Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, including participation in the Holocaust and mass repressions, deserve full condemnation and have nothing in common with resistance to totalitarian systems. 

The purpose of the statement of Riigikogu is to pay tribute to those who, despite Nazi or Communist occupations, did not lose faith in the independent Republic of Estonia and the values it represented, and took actual steps in the name of its restoration.  

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