“…June 22 will be the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s attack on the USSR. After … the Second World War was unleashed, … Germany opened the next horrific chapter. For us Germans, this day is a day to be ashamed of,” the chancellor said
It is the duty of the German nation to preserve the memory of that tragedy for all mankind, she said:
“The FRG recognises its responsibility for the crimes of the Nazi regime. This includes the lasting remembrance of what happened. It must not be forgotten. We owe it to the millions of victims and their descendants. Out of this responsibility grows our duty to work for peace and a rules-based international order.”
She thanked that “Gorbachev’s policies, glasnost and perestroika made the peaceful reunification of the FRG in 1990 possible.”
According to her, Germany still “needs to have a dialogue with Russia. Our countries are closely linked historically, socially and economically.