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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Bush says U.S. partly to blame for Soviet oppression

U.S. soldiers rehearse near graves of U.S. military World War II victims at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten on Saturday. President Bush will attend a ceremony in Margraten marking today's 60th anniversary of V-E Day. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Ron Hutcheson Knight Ridder

RIGA, Latvia – President Bush on Saturday called Soviet oppression in Europe “one of the greatest wrongs of history” and accepted some American blame for it.

Speaking to a Latvian audience with bitter memories of Soviet domination, Bush expressed regrets about the 1945 Yalta agreement that divided Europe into U.S. and Soviet spheres of influence. The pact, approved by Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin near the end of World War II, effectively cleared the way for the creation of Soviet satellites in Eastern and Central Europe.

Bush said the agreement “left a continent divided and unstable” and led to the “captivity of millions” of Europeans who fell under Soviet control.

The president’s remarks in Riga echoed comments in Moscow by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the two leaders engaged in a long-distance debate over the roots and legacy of the Cold War.

Putin has been forced to deal with Russia’s Soviet past as he prepares to host Bush and more than 50 other world leaders at a celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.

Monday’s planned celebration in Moscow’s Red Square has been tainted by criticism over the Soviet Union’s early alliance with Nazi Germany and its oppressive domination of Eastern Europe and the Baltic nations after the war.

In an interview with German television journalists, Putin agreed with Bush about the Yalta pact but shrugged off criticism of the Soviet Union’s efforts to control neighboring countries.

“There is nothing surprising about it. It built them in its own image and likeness, and it was a well known system, a system which, unfortunately, as far as our people is concerned, was not based on democratic principles,” said Putin, a former agent of the KGB, the Soviet version of the CIA. “But such were the realities of the times.”

He added, “Thank God, we have abandoned the realities of those times in the interests of the Russian people and in the interests of all the peoples of the European continent.”

Bush delivered his remarks, the keynote speech of his five-day trip to Europe and Russia, after meeting with Baltic leaders who have refused to join him in Moscow. Many in the Baltics view the end of World War II as the day they swapped Adolf Hitler for Stalin.

Bush urged former Cold War enemies to put the past aside so they can focus on building vibrant, stable democracies. He linked the growth of democracy in Europe to his larger goal of spreading freedom around the globe.

In a blunt message for Putin, Bush said Russia should not fear the spread of democracy on its doorstep.

“Repression has no place on this continent … All the nations that border Russia will benefit from the spread of democratic values – and so will Russia itself,” he said. “No good purpose is served by stirring up fears and exploiting old rivalries in this region.”