POPOV: SLAVIC PEOPLES SUFFERED GREATEST LOSSES IN 20TH CENTURY

PALE, OCTOBER 20 /SRNA/ - Head of the Russian Autonomous Non-Profit Organization /ANO/ "Europe Centre for Social and Information Cooperation" Eduard Popov considers it paradoxical that the tragedy of Slavic peoples during World War II is not even discussed in certain countries, despite the fact that Slavs suffered the greatest losses in the 20th century.

"The aim of our cooperation and interaction with scientific institutions from Republika Srpska is to initiate a dialogue between Russian and Serbian scholars on issues concerning the Slavic world, particularly the genocide against Slavs. I am referring to the policies of fascist Nazi Germany, which were implemented during the 1940s," Popov told reporters in Pale.

He said it was paradoxical that this subject was being suppressed in certain countries, where the tragedy of Slavic peoples during World War II was not discussed at all, while much greater attention was devoted to the Holocaust, even though Slavs were the peoples who suffered the greatest losses during the war.

The most tragic aspect, he said, was "neo-Nazism," namely the fact that the genocide of some Slavic peoples was carried out by other Slavic peoples, specifically Ukrainian nationalists, Nazis and collaborators.

"Although Nazism as a whole has been condemned internationally, this `neo-Nazism` - by which I mean the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, as well as the Ustashas - has not received the same condemnation. This has allowed these issues to be revised following the collapse of the countries of the Soviet bloc, with these figures being portrayed as so-called heroes," Popov pointed out.

He warned that this chapter had unfortunately not been closed, adding that organisations of Ukrainian nationalists were now being glorified in Ukraine, just as the Ustashas were being glorified in Croatia.

"In socialist Ukraine, the Ustashas are fighting alongside the Nazi terrorist battalion Azov. But, just as in World War II, both sides will be defeated, prosecuted and convicted," Popov said.

He said this was his third visit to Republika Srpska and expressed gratitude, both personally and on behalf of the organization he represents, to colleagues from Russia and Belarus, the University of Istočno Sarajevo and the Institute of Historical Sciences. He expressed particular gratitude to Republika Srpska Minister for Scientific and Technological Development and Higher Education Draga Mastilović.

The international scientific conference "Genocide against Slavic Peoples in the 20th Century" is being held at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Istočno Sarajevo in Pale. The initial messages from participants at the prominent gathering point to the need for detailed research into genocide against Slavs in order to secure a stronger and definitive condemnation of neo-Nazism, neo-fascism and Ustasha ideology, which are becoming increasingly prominent amid new geopolitical developments.

The conference is organized by the Institute of Historical Sciences of the University of Istočno Sarajevo.