“Today is Black Ribbon Day, a commemoration begun by Canadian refugees of Central and Eastern European origin to remember the terrifying consequences of the 1939 pact between the Communist Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
“It led to the enslavement of Central and Eastern Europe, which only ended with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.
“Black Ribbon Day remembers the collusion of the two worst forms of totalitarianism in the history of humanity, which together resulted in the death of tens of millions of innocent people.
“I join with the Central and Eastern European communities here and across the world in recalling their shared history of oppression from the twin evils of Communism and fascism, the symbiotic nature of which is brilliantly described in Harvard historian Timothy Snyder’s book Bloodlands.
“Today’s invasion of Ukraine by former Soviet Communist KGB agent Vladimir Putin reminds us that the arrogant and violent spirit of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact lives on in Moscow. If the democratic world has learned from the lessons of history that are recalled on this day, then we must redouble our efforts to support the proud people of Ukraine in defending their independence and dignity from Russia’s brutal invasion.
“May the memory of all of the countless lives lost under those totalitarian regimes be eternal.”