70th anniversary of the Great Victory

MINSK, 11 May (BelTA) - At the invitation of the Federal President of Germany Joachim Gauck Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Belarus to Germany Andrei Giro took part in a ceremony to lay wreaths at the graves of Soviet soldiers and officers at Lebus War Cemetery, BelTA learned from the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Belarus.

"During the conversation with the President of Germany the parties noted the importance and timeliness of the apology offered by Gernot Erler, an official representative of the German Government, on behalf of Germany to the Belarusian people for the suffering during the war. Mr Gernot Erler took part in a commemorative event at the site of the future memorial Trostenets in Belarus in early May 2015,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

At the invitation of President of the Bundestag Norbert Lammert Ambassador Andrei Giro took part in the session of the German Parliament dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The Ambassador also raised a “toast to peace” at the function in the Russian-German Museum Berlin-Karlshorst. “A toast to peace” is a traditional event held in the building where the act of surrender of Germany was signed on 8 May 1945.

Representatives of the Belarusian Embassy in Belgium paid tribute to the Soviet soldiers who fell in Belgium and to the Belgian Resistance members at the Evere cemetery in Brussels. "Belarusian Ambassador to Belgium Andrei Yevdochenko took part in a wreath laying ceremony. The diplomats of the embassy also laid flowers at the graves of Soviet soldiers from Belarus in the cemeteries of Belgian cities Genk, Kortemark, Lanklaar, Houthalen,” the press service added.

The Embassy of Belarus to the United Kingdom participated in the Victory Day festive events. In the Park of the Imperial War Museum in London Belarus Ambassador Sergei Aleinik laid a wreath on behalf of the Republic of Belarus to the monument to 27 million Soviet citizens - victims of the war 1941-1945. On the Island of Jersey officials of the Embassy of Belarus took part in a wreath laying ceremony at the memorial at the site of a mass grave of the Soviet citizens sent for forced labor to build military fortifications on the German-occupied Channel Islands. Minister-Counselor of the Embassy Valery Dovgan laid a wreath at a commemorative plaque in honor of the memory of the fallen Belarusians.