In the interval 5-6 June 2008, Mr. Marius Oprea, president of the IICCR, participated in the International Conference Fall of the Berlin Wall: from Budapest to Vilnius , which took place in Vilnius (Lithuania).
The conference was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Sajudis Independence Movement in Lithuania, of the Popular Fronts in Estonia and Latvia as well to the 40th anniversary of the Spring in Prague.
The works of the conference were opened by His Excelency Valdas Adamkus, the President of the Republic of Lithuania. The conference was attended by Prof. Vytautas Landsbergis, former Leader of Sajudis , former President of Lithuania and a Member of the European Parliament, Dr. Arnold Rüütel, former President of Estonia, Jón Baldvin Hannibalsson, former Minister of External Affairs of the Republic of Iceland, Uffe Ellemann-Jensen, former Minister of External Affairs of Denmark.
The main topics discussed were the liberation movement of nations in totalitarian societies, Perestroika, the actions of the Polish Tradeunion Solidarno?? , the army resistance against Soviet occupation, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the Prague Spring (1968).
A round table was organized on Friday, June 6, with participation from Lithuania, Sweden, the United States of America, the Republic of Belarus and the Republic of Georgia. The main discussion topic was the liberation movement under totalitarian regimes – significance and consequences in Europe and the world.
Mr. Marius Oprea’s paper, When Statues are Burning – Communism in Romania, from Murder to Suicide / Când statuile ard – comunismul în România, de la crimă la sinucidere, focused on the functioning mechanism of the communist regime and the abuses committed during this period, as well as to the “original democracy” installed after December 1989. The paper insisted upon the necessity of taking measures, at the level of the European Parliament, for the crimes and abuses of the communist regime may be condemned as crimes against humanity.
