| Summary/Abstract |
When Ukraine’s Parliament, the Rada, approved four bills on April 9, 2015, stating that Communism and Nazism were equally evil, at least as far as Ukraine is concerned, some Western intellectuals reacted with pique to the de-Communization agenda the bills promoted. In particular, 70 Western and Ukrainian scholars wrote an open letter to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Rada Chairman Volodymyr Hroysman in which they claimed the “content and spirit” of the laws “contradicts one of the most fundamental political rights: the right to freedom of speech.” According to the scholars, “Any legal or ‘administrative’ distortion of history is an assault on the most basic purpose of scholarly inquiry: pursuit of truth. Any official attack on historical memory is unjust. Difficult and contentious issues must remain matters of debate.”
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