Photo exhibition devoted to 65 years of Victory opens in Brussels.

BRUSSELS, May 5 (Itar-Tass) - A photo exhibition called "65 Years of
Peace" has opened in the European Parliament's residence in Brussels.
European deputies from Latvia and the Czech Republic have organized it
with assistance from Russia's representative office in the European
Commission. European Parliament deputies, diplomats, journalists and
visitors to the European Parliament attended the opening ceremony on
Tuesday.
The exposition features 36 photographs telling about many facts of
WWII: Moscow metro stations turned into bomb shelters, the occupation and
inmates of Nazi concentration camps, battles and ordinary days of soldiers
on the frontline, the liberation of European cities, the Yalta Conference
of the leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition, a meeting of Soviet and
allied troops on the Elbe, the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag and
the signing of Germany's capitulation act.
"On the eve of the 65th anniversary of Victory I deemed it my duty to
hold this exhibition in the European Parliament," the European deputy from
Latvia Alfred Rubiks told Itar-Tass.
"It should remind the citizens of modern Europe about the horrors of
war and about the true value of peace. I was five when the war broke out
and I was ten when it was over. I will always remember how I was afraid of
losing my mother at that time," Rubiks went on to say.
He said that each European deputy had the right to organize just one
cultural event in the European Parliament residence during his mandate.
"I am deeply convinced that today we should fight against
falsification of history in order to avert recurrences," Rubiks emphasized.
For his part, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's permanent representative to
the European Commission, said that people depicted on the photos had
changed the course of history. He stressed that the Soviet Union had
crushed the bulk of Hitler's military machine but added that Russia just
like the former Soviet Union had always valued and had never forgotten the
contribution of the allied troops in the Victory.
"The very fact of creation of the anti-Hitler coalition became a
powerful diplomatic success when countries with different ideologies and
priorities managed to unite for struggle against the common enemy. The
United Nations to which we owe these 65 years of peace embodied and
sustained that success," Chizhov said.
The exhibition will be held in the European Parliament residence from
May 4 to May 6.
Sixty-five years is an unprecedented period of peace in the history of
Europe.

. War veterans gather in Moscow for congress.

MOSCOW, May 5 (Itar-Tass) - The first Russian congress of veterans of
the Great Patriotic War, of the Russian Armed Forces and of local wars
opened in the Russian capital on Tuesday. It's timed to coincide with the
celebrations of the 65th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Marshal of the Soviet Union Dmitry Yazov said that the task of the
veterans was to preserve their inspiration, bring it home to Russia's
younger generation that it was the Soviet Union who carried the main
burden of the war and also instil in them a feeling of pride and respect
for the feats of their grandfathers and great grandfathers.
Yazov called for reviving the best traditions of Russian officers
through support of military schools across Russia.
"Victory in the Great Patriotic War has international and historical
importance,> war veteran General Makhmut Galeyev said.
"No other war can be compared to it either by scale or the affect it
had on human fates," Galeyev said.
The participants in the congress criticized attempts to distort the
logic of historical events, depreciate the contribution of the Soviet
people to victory and separate the people from its leader.
Galeyev believes that in those hard days victory became possible not
only because of the heroism of the people but also thanks to
well-thought-out governance of the country's leaders.
The veterans unanimously passed a resolution, which says that the
congress would gather at least once a year to honour war veterans and mark
vital dates in Russia's military history.

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