Debate on when to mark WWII

  • 2004-09-29
  • From wire reports
VILNIUS - Historian Alvydas Nikzentaitis said he believes that Lithuania should join its West European neighbors in celebrating the end of World War II on May 8.

A Nikzentaitis-led working group that had been formed by Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas to organize commemorative events held its first meeting on Sept. 24 to discuss how Lithuania could mark the 60-year anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany next spring, the governmental press service said.

Nikzentaitis, director of the Lithuanian History Institute, said he would propose that Western Europe commemorate the event on May 8 instead of May 9, the date celebrated by Russia.

"This would indicate our identification and recognition of certain Western European values," the historian told the Baltic News Service.

While Russia celebrates its Victory Day on May 9, the West marks the occasion on May 8.

On a practical note, celebrating the anniversary on May 8 would solve President Valdas Adamkus' current scheduling predicament, the historian said.