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Accusing Lithuania of indulging in neo-Nazism is just a reaction of certain Russian institutions to the outstanding efforts made by the current Government of Lithuania to achieve the recognition of Stalinist crimes at a European level.

Such statements are not new and the Baltic States hear these opinions each time when the questions of Stalinist crimes or of paying damages for the occupation are raised. The attitude of the Russian institutions that by condemning some crimes against humanity (the Stalinist crimes), other crimes, i.e. the crimes of Nazism, are being rehabilitated, shall be regarded as very odd.

As Russian presidential adviser Mikhail Fedotov said, the fact that Hitler was a tyrant and a villain, Stalin does not become an angel, and vice versa. Democratic countries should recognize, condemn and preserve the tragic memory about all the crimes against humanity. It is a basic respect for history.

These accusations were heard right after Lithuanian Minister of Justice Remigijus Šimašius said at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva that Lithuania would continue to pursue an appropriate evaluation of totalitarian regimes in Europe.

The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council is a new mechanism which came into play at the UN since 2008. The UPR aims to assess an overall human rights situation in every UN member state. The Universal Periodic Review shall be conducted every 4 years. The evaluation is carried out by other countries – both member and observer states of the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Universal Periodic Review is a cross-border process and this is its fundamental difference from the reports that are drawn up under the human rights conventions and their presentation at relevant committees, where the evaluation is carried out by experts. The universal review is periodically applied to all UN member states without any exception.