Analytics, Baltic States – CIS, Economics, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Latvia

Demographic losses and damage to the environment each caused losses of dozens of billions of euros, said Pazdere.

Three books were presented today – "Latvian Industry Before and After Restoration of Independence", "Colonial Policy of the Soviet Empire and Colonization of Latvia in 1940-1990", and "Damage Caused to the Baltics by the Soviet Union". European Parliament member Inese Vaidere (Unity) said during the event that without knowing the past, there can be no future, as not researching the past may result in making the same mistakes in the future.

There needs to be a common understanding of history, said Vaidere, explaining that both Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union were "equally criminal".

In Vaidere's opinion, people are often too uncritical about the soviet period, which is wrong. Information disseminated by the soviet media was all built on lies, she stressed.

Justice Minister Dzintars Rasnacs (National Alliance) said in turn that the Baltic countries should harmonize their methodologies for calculating the amount of damage caused by the soviet occupation.

The fact that budget funds have been allocated to the commission for calculating the damage caused by the soviet occupation proves that the government has the political will to solve the issue, said Rasnacs.