I was reading a short article about minority issues written by Janis Bolsteins (TBT#416). I couldn't agree more. There seems to be some leftist EU officials - mainly from France, Germany and England - who want everybody to forget about history and the suffering of the peoples of three Baltic states. Condemnation of totalitarian communism is going to be a test for the new EU Parliament. Maybe after that we can get the Russians to listen to international opinion.
The Russian minority has no intension of becoming a useful part of society. (By the way, people in Canada cannot vote until they get their citizenship.)
I was born in April 1944 in Viipuri and had to escape from the criminal Soviet Red Army, as did 420,000 other Karelians. For the last 30 years I have lived in Canada. I participate in some Finnish language forums, and a few years ago I started the West Coast Karelia Association. Its current membership is 85 people.
Maybe your editorial staff could say a few kind words about the ceded Finnish territories that are still occupied by the criminal Russian army. When I visit Viipuri I find it absolutely unbelievable that people do not know about the Winter War. Unfortunately, there are even some Finns who are willing to tell people that it was Finland who attacked first.
Peter Mokkonen,Canada
