Norway to invite Ukraine instead of Russia to commemorate region's liberation from Nazis
Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine
On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the eastern part of the region from Nazi occupation, the authorities of the Norwegian Finnmark will send an invitation to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, and will not invite representatives of Russia.
The newly elected burgomaster of the Finnmark district, Hans-Jacob Bønå, reported this, VG writes.
The head of Finnmark recalled that the first unit of Soviet troops that arrived in the region in October 1944 to liberate it from the Nazis was headed by a native of Ukraine.
"Today, we stand side by side with our brothers and sisters in Ukraine in their struggle for what we have: our own country, where people decide their own future. This is important to us. Not so long ago, we ourselves were under the power of a foreign state," added Bjono.
As Bønå explained, Finnmark can no longer invite Russian representatives after "what Russia has done with the neighboring country," and such a decision is due to the actions of the Russian Federation.
"On behalf of the regional parliament of Finnmark, I will soon invite the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, to the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Eastern Finnmark. In this way, we will show our gratitude to the Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood for the liberation of Eastern Finnmark, their descendants, and the homeland – Ukraine," he explained.
As VG notes, the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Eastern Finnmark in Norway in 2019 was visited by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov.
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It should be noted that Norway joined the 11th package of sanctions of the European Union against the Russian Federation, which was introduced in June. Thus, the country supported all EU sanctions packages.
