Delegations from the CIS, Europe, Asia, and Latin America will come to Brest for the international forum of the Union State of Belarus and Russia “Great legacy - common future”, which will take place in Brest on 20-22 June, BelTA learned from the press service of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia, the organizer of the forum.
“The forum is timed to a tragic memorable date in the shared history of Belarus and Russia – the 85th anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War. It is symbolic that Brest was chosen as the venue. It is a city that was among the first to take the blow of the Nazi invaders, and the feat of defenders of the Brest Fortress will forever remain a symbol of courage, heroism, and the unbending will of our ancestors. The forum will bring together parliamentary delegations from the CIS countries, friendly states of Europe, Asia, and Latin America, public figures, representatives of the scientific community, international experts as well as members of the Youth Chamber under the Parliamentary Assembly,” the press service said.
The discussion will focus on topical matters of preserving the shared historical memory, tasks relating to the patriotic education of the young generation on the basis of historical knowledge, the development of citizenship and patriotism among young people, nurturing respect for the combat feats and labor deeds of heroic ancestors, shaping a careful attitude towards historical and cultural heritage as well as protecting historical truth. Special attention will be paid to countering the ideology of neo-Nazism as a threat to the civilizational world order.
The forum will begin on 20 June with a session of the Youth Chamber under the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. On 21 June the work will continue by sessions of three thematic sections: “The history of the Great Patriotic War as a consolidating factor of integration processes in the post-Soviet space”; “Spiritual and cultural foundations of the Great Victory”; “The ideology of neo-Nazism as a threat to the civilizational world order in the context of escalation of international tension.”
On the same day the leadership of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia will lay flowers in the memorial zone Sorrow, a sculptural composition which was created using the Union State budget funds within the framework of a project to restore and museumify structures of the Brest Fortress. It embodies the memory of its fallen defenders and all victims of the war.
During the forum a meeting of the 70th session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union State of Belarus and Russia will take place to adopt a statement “On the genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.”
In the morning of 22 June participants will gather in the Ceremonial Square of the Brest Hero Fortress memorial complex to honor the memory of the fallen with a requiem rally and a ceremony of laying flowers at the Eternal Flame.
The key event of the forum will be a plenary session that will take place on 22 June and will include speeches by heads of parliamentary delegations.