VILNIUS - The world has not learnt the historical lesson from the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact that divided Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius said on Wednesday.
"This is not just another historical document. It is highly relevant in the present-day context, because we see efforts to redivide the world, to redraw Europe's borders, armed aggression is taking place, countries are being occupied, annexed -- in fact, this a historical lesson that has not been learnt," he told reporters.
Lithuania on Tuesday received scanned copies of the Soviet-Nazi pact, a protocol and a map with signatures from the Political Archive of the German Foreign Ministry.
Under the pact, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany divided the Baltic countries and Poland into spheres of influence on the eve of World War II, during which Lithuania was occupied.
The copies are planned to be put on display as part of an exhibition on the Lithuanian diplomatic service between 1918 and 2018 to be opened at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas next year.
Linkevicius said that talks were also ongoing with Germany on another historical document of major significance to Lithuania -- a copy of Lithuania's Act of Independence of Feb. 16, 1918 that was found this year in Berlin's archive.
"I hope that what we all expect to happen will happen, but let's not rush the events," he said.
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