Today, participating in this conference, I must admit to feeling both pleasure and amazement. I am pleased that a conference on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, also called the Hitler-Stalin Pact, can attract the presence of so many scholars, politicians and journalists. At the same time I find it rather odd and peculiar that an accord concluded 66 years ago between two states can still elicit such energetic discussions.

The explanation, in my opinion, lies in that fact that unlike many other international agreements, this agreement was criminal both toward the people of the countries that signed it and to the people of the countries that it affected. That crime has still not been fully assessed, nor has it been unequivocally condemned so that it can serve as a lesson for future generations.

This is a crime which has apparently been exposed, but the criminal has not been punished. Moreover, the criminal has not admitted any wrongdoing. How can we forgive when there has been no expression of regret or request for forgiveness? The essence of this heinous pact is evident not only in the context of the past and present, but also the future. Only when we consider the pact in the context of all these aspects together and at once are we able to arrive at the gist of things. Not all politicians from the countries which concluded the pact want to have a clear and comprehensive picture of the moral and historic significance of the pact; instead, they would rather look at it through a skewed prism.

As Latvia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, I would like to thank the Konrad Adenauer Foundation for organizing this conference. I would be pleased if today, when we remember the historic August 23, there were among us not only participants from Germany but also from Russia. That could, perhaps, be the first step leading to a complete assessment of the transgression. In the meanwhile – until this job is fully finished – we shall continue to gather in such conferences.

Today, the Russian media is focusing on the Battle of Kursk and ignoring the criminal pact between Hitler and Stalin. Thus, one theme is used to conceal another theme. Such a tactic on the part of the Soviet Union and Russia is simply a way to defer acknowledging the truth about oneself. It illustrates Russia's identity problem, its inability to face up to and admit its past. Russia is, therefore, like a bent tree that is unable to make itself straight and stand erect. History shows that no state can survive when it rules with brute force; no state can survive without the people's support set forth in a rational and ethical agreement between the people and the state.

Nonetheless, I express the hope that Russia will admit to the crimes of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact one day, be it in five, ten or fifty years. Everyone has to pay for his mistakes and the injustices that he has committed. Otherwise, this world would cease to exist.

We are optimistic. We are a member of NATO and the European Union. In the context of the latest political developments with regard to the conclusion of agreements with our neighbouring state and concerning my actions as minister of foreign affairs and the actions of the ministry, I would like to emphasize that we are not hostages of our roots, of our past; the signing of one accord or another will not make a cardinal change in Russia's attitude. We must maintain a principled stance: we cannot make a short term concession for which we shall have to pay a severe price in the future.