Presidential Declaration on VE Day

IPU Presidential Statement
Gabriela Cuevas Barron
Geneva, 8 May 2020
Dear colleagues, dear friends!
Victory day is celebrated in many countries of the world on May 8 and 9. And in spite of
the fact that the official date of the end of the Second World War is September 2, 1945,
its most bloody "Euro-Atlantic" part ended in May.
I am deeply convinced that we should avoid a repeat of the Second World War at all
cost. It involved 62 states with 80% of the world's population at the time. The war was
fought in 40 countries. The total human losses reached 60-65 million people, and at
least half of them were civilians. Almost a whole generation - entire villages, families -
was wiped off the face of the earth and buried in mass graves, some of which have not
yet been identified.
I am confident that despite the increasing attempts of some countries to revise the
results of the war, we should learn to objectively recognize the role and contribution of
our countries to the Victory, regardless of the differences in political systems and
ideologies that exist now. We will not be able to strive for peace until we learn to respect
and accept our past.
Victory over nazism is our common heritage It should unite us and we should rightly be
proud of it, rather than trying to use it as an opportunity to falsify history by taking
advantage of the fact that fewer and fewer witnesses of those days remain.
At a time when all countries are facing the biggest challenge of the new millennium, the
COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 3 million people infected, we are becoming
increasingly aware every day of how important mutual support is to us and how much
collective action against external threats can bring.
The COVID-19 epidemic has shown that all countries and people, poor and rich, are
vulnerable to such threats and that it is impossible to solve such problems alone. It is
therefore crucial not to follow the path of national selfishness, but rather to seek unity of
effort and solidarity.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said the pandemic has become the biggest
problem for the planet since the Second World War, stressing that the world now needs
solidarity, as the disease affects societies, claiming lives and depriving people of their
livelihoods. In terms of the scale of loss and destruction, it is, of course, impossible to
compare it with either the First or the Second world wars, but the effects on politics and
economics, society and consciousness are quite comparable.
Dansk Interparlamentarisk Gruppes bestyrelse 2019-20
IPU Alm.del - Bilag 13
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Unfortunately, it was not in our power to prevent such force majeure, be it dangerous
diseases, climate change or natural disasters, but, as historical experience shows,
mankind can achieve a lot when it is united and politicians are able to forget about their
differences.
IPU was founded 130 years ago and many of our members experienced the tragedies
and brutality of the Second World War. We should have learned the lessons and yet
somehow the hate speeches and nationalism of the past are coming back to the global
scene. We are living new challenges with the pandemic affecting our health and
economies, but our responsibility goes even further; as representatives of the people,
as parliamentarians who believe in international cooperation, as members of the IPU
with our principles and values, this emergency demands much more from us. We must
be the voice calling for a common solution and increased dialogue. And, most
importantly, after the pandemic we have to defend our democracies and fight for an
early end of all measures restricting liberties and human rights. Then and now: For
Democracy. For Everyone.