Germany erects a statue in honor of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, a man who trampled on the most fundamental human and civil rights as well as the rule of law, while Germans expect other Member States to respect the rule of law

Today, on the initiative of MEP Andrea Bocskor, the Fidesz-KDNP delegation to the European Parliament submitted a written question to the European Commission on the inauguration of a Lenin statue in Germany. On behalf of the Fidesz-KDNP delegation, Fidesz MEP Andrea Bocskor voiced her discontent with the fact that while Germany, the Member State currently holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, keeps worrying about the rule of law in other Member States, in the 21st century, it erects a statue in honor of Lenin, whose crimes against humanity could be listed almost indefinitely.

The Fidesz-KDNP delegation to the European Parliament was shocked to learn that after previously erecting a statue of Karl Marx, a statue of Lenin was also inaugurated in Gelsenkirchen on 20 June 2020. While proposals on how to halt radical views seem to be abundant among EU politicians, an EU Member State openly celebrating the mass murderer who created the Soviet totalitarian state is, apparently, not quite enough to trigger Hungary’s vocal critics.

Lenin’s political descendants and their followers, the devotees of Marxism-Leninism, are responsible for heinous crimes against humanity. Therefore, a public commemoration of Lenin violates the memory of the victims of communism and their relatives.

“The question arises: Where is the common ground between erecting a statue in honour of Lenin, a man who coercively dismissed the Constituent Assembly in 1918, and the German EU presidency’s primary goal of respecting the rule of law?” MEP Andrea Bocskor asked.

“It’s shameful that while Central Europe has suffered the horrors of communism up until a couple of decades ago, leftist organizations in Western Europe still laud its ideology,” Bocskor added. 

“For Central Europeans, erecting a statue of the red-handed communist dictator violates the memory of his victims. This is as unacceptable as celebrating Nazi symbols and actions.”

For this reason, the Fidesz-KDNP delegation to the European Parliament has called upon the European Commission to take action so that the German federal government puts an end to such radical incidents as quickly as possible. Furthermore, our MEPs are curious to learn about specific steps that the European Commission plans to undertake to prohibit and tackle the praising of totalitarian ideologies.