Prague, 4 July – Representatives of the Platform (PEMC) have been active in the European Parliament in recent weeks. Mr. Marek Mutor, PEMC President, and Ms. Andreja Valic-Zver, member of the Executive Board, attended the commemoration event for the victims of Soviet deportations, which took place on 14 June at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

The event was attended by the President of the Parliament, Ms Roberta Metsola, and a number of MEPs, including Ms Rasa Juknevičienė, Chair of the Informal Group on European Remembrance and the initiator of the event. PEMC has been involved in this project for several years and is a co-creator.

“We consider it a success that the European Parliament has recognised the commemoration of the victims of Soviet deportations as part of its official agenda since this year. It is important for the victims, their families, but also for Europeans today who must constantly cultivate their readiness to make the effort to confront evil. After all, deportations are part of the reality of the war Russia is waging today against an independent Ukraine,” said Marek Mutor.

During the ceremony, representatives of the deported communities, MEPs and representatives of the PEMC were reading out the lists of the names of the victims, and flowers were laid at the memorial plaque.

On 31 May 2023, we attended the naming ceremony of one of the rooms in the Parliament headquarters in Brussels after Witold Pilecki and the accompanying conference.

Mr Witold Pilecki is the patron of the Day of Remembrance of the Heroes of Resistance against Totalitarianism (25 May). He was a Polish officer who volunteered to be captured and sent to Auschwitz in 1940. He organised the resistance of the prisoners there. After escaping from the camp, he fought against the Nazis and took part in the Warsaw Uprising. After the Second World War, he opposed the communist power established by the Soviets in Poland. He was imprisoned for his opposition activities and executed on 25 May 1948.