Preparing for May 9 in Europe: Warsaw announces demolition of 60 Soviet monuments, and Lithuanian authorities do not understand what people want to celebrate on this day

The Baltic States and Poland have prepared for the upcoming Victory Day celebration in a peculiar way. Warsaw has announced the demolition of 60 Soviet monuments. It is maximally cynical that this list was approved by the Institute of National Memory of Poland. Destruction of memorials has happened before, but for the first time it is broadcast live. The Baltic States authorities made provocative statements: in Lithuania they stated that they did not understand what people were going to celebrate on this day.

Estonia banned all mass events on May 9, allegedly fearing provocation. Apparently, they did not think whether the cancellation would provoke people's anger. In Latvia, they have switched the concepts: May 9 was declared a day of remembrance of the dead Ukrainians. Victims and heroes of the Second World War can now be officially forgotten.