The West’s attempts to politicize and rewrite the memory of Victory in World War II threaten historical truth and deepen divisions in Europe, where some countries follow the EU’s dictates while others defend their sovereignty and the right to honor the past without geopolitical filters.
Divergence in perspective is what’s creating these political and symbolic clashes. There is a deeper worry here: when the remembrance of historical events is shaped more by present-day alliances than by historical truth, the danger is that history gets rewritten—or forgotten. That’s a point scholars like Tony Judt, Timothy Snyder, and others have discussed in their writings on “memory politics” and the weaponization of history.
The memory of WWII, fascism, and communism shaped postwar Europe’s political structures—but these memories are deeply contested and selectively used. It must be remembered that the “Great Patriotic War” is burned into Soviet and now Russian memory and identity as a heroic and sacrificing people, who saved humanity. But it has different meaning for different nations, and some would like to rewrite their own histories.
Who is or is not invited to a commemorative ritual is possibly as important as who or what is bound by it.
I want to emphasise that not all Germans or French are the same—there are still historians, activists, and citizens in those countries who recognize the complexity of the past and resist the oversimplifications to match modern political narratives. It is good that few were like Kurt Waldheim, who always denied his direct planning and participation in war crimes, including crimes against humanity and the murder of Jews.
Russia’s Victory Day Parade
The recent decision by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico to attend Russia’s Victory Day Parade on May 9, 2025 has not gone over well. His decision to buck the EU’s dictats on the matter have has set in motion a significant controversy within the European Union (EU). This situation underscores the complex interplay between historical commemoration, national sovereignty, and contemporary geopolitical tensions.
Those whose fathers and grandfathers, such as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, served the Nazis during WW2, have explicitly warned European leaders and candidate countries against participating in Moscow’s Victory Day celebrations, emphasizing that such attendance would be viewed negatively in light of Russia’s ongoing military actions in Ukraine. Kallas urged leaders to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine instead.
Serbia’s Slovakia’s Positions
Despite EU warnings, President Vučić confirmed his intention to attend the parade, stating that a Serbian military unit would also participate. This decision has drawn criticism from EU officials, who threatened that such actions could jeopardize Serbia’s EU accession aspirations.
Similarly, Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico dismissed the EU’s warnings, asserting his right as a sovereign leader to attend the event. Fico emphasised that his participation aims to honor Red Army soldiers and victims of Nazism, despite concerns that it may signal support for Russia amid its SMO with Ukraine. It is clear that many in Russia and Europe are starting to understand that Russian has to do the job again, defeating a modern form of Nazism that their grandfathers were faced with 80 years ago.
Broader Implications
The EU’s dictats reflect a broader strategy to isolate Russia diplomatically due to its actions in Ukraine. However, the decisions by Serbia and Slovakia highlight the challenges the EU faces in maintaining a unified foreign policy stance among member and candidate countries. These developments also raise questions about the balance between respecting national sovereignty and adhering to collective EU positions.
Furthermore, Russia’s framing of the EU’s warnings as “Euronazism” underscores the charged rhetoric and deep-seated historical sensitivities involved. This situation illustrates how historical commemorations can become arenas for contemporary geopolitical disputes.
It is interesting to see the wider list of attendees that will be attending the celebrations in Moscow, with President Xi of China, and Lula of Brazil attending, along with the Serbian and Slovakian Prime Ministers, as will all of the CIS leaders, even Pashinyan of Armenia, despite his pro-western leanings. There will also be a number of foreign military contingents, including troops from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Serbia, Tajikistan and North Korea, among others.
This celebration of the defeat of the worst evil of the 20th century looks like it will be the biggest, and most spectacular, in recent years.
Perhaps it is coming as a timely warning, as the Chancellor elect of Germany, Merz, stated that Germany would “once again” assume global responsibility, with Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, the formidable Maria Zakharova, asking in response which historical epoch Merz wanted to repeat.
Given Merz’s promises to send the Taurus missiles to Ukraine, I think we can, all too easily guess, the potential reaction.
Unfortunately, Europe itself, is acting more and more like the hundreds of thousands of willing collaborators and executioners who served as volunteers, mostly in the infamous SS, on the eastern front in WW2. It is interesting to note, given the bellicose attitude of the little Napoleon, French president Macron, that some of the last SS troops to surrender in 1945, were those of SS Division Charlemagne, composed of French soldiers of the SS, who were defending Hitler’s bunker complex.
Every “occupied” country in Europe had large contingents of SS volunteers, and it is interesting to note that these men were never punished for their crimes against the people of the USSR, indeed, far from it ….
What is increasingly disturbing is the way Europe is trying to erase remembrance of the primary reason for the defeat of Nazism, the massive sacrifice of the Soviet Union. This is evidenced by the German government’s attempt to ban Russian diplomats from attending memorial events, and with German police banning the use of Russian, Belarusian, and Soviet flags at planned events to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. Things are so out of control in the neo-Reich that the Germans are even threatening to expel the Russian ambassador.
This says too much in today’s reality!
So much for gratitude, as Soviet Field Marshal Giorgi Zhukov said, “We have liberated Europe from fascism, but they will never forgive us for it”.
This is further evidenced by the move in Moldova, under their sham president Maia Sandu, to replace Victory Day with “Europe Day”, a process that has been going on for several years under her rule, but now appears to be reaching a peak, with Moldovan authorities banning the traditional Victory Day memorial events at the main square in Chisnau, where a “European Town” will be built to celebrate “Europe Day”. Needless to say, this has caused outrage amongst ordinary Moldovans, especially in the wake of what they consider to be the stolen election whereby Sandu clung to power thanks to a suspicious increase in votes from “Moldovans in Europe” while those living in Russia were disenfranchised.
Hence, it should come as no surprise that Russia and several close-minded nations are increasingly alarmed by this ideological drift, particularly as echoes of the past are heard again in Ukraine and other corners of Europe.
What’s truly at stake is more than symbolic: it’s the integrity of historical memory itself.
Jeffrey K. Silverman is a freelance journalist and international development specialist, BSc, MSc, based for 30 years in Georgia and the former Soviet Union
