In a diplomatic move bristling with symbolism, Germany has pointedly excluded the Russian and Belarusian ambassadors from an official parliamentary commemoration marking the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
The decision, announced by the Bundestag, underlines Berlin’s growing unease over Moscow’s use of the Soviet victory narrative as a political tool amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The commemorative event, set to take place in early May, traditionally honours the Allied triumph over Nazi Germany and the immense sacrifices made during the war.
For decades, Soviet – and later Russian – participation in such ceremonies was seen as both a historical necessity and a gesture of post-war reconciliation. Yet this year’s omission of Russia and Belarus reflects a profound shift in Europe’s diplomatic landscape, shaped by two years of brutal warfare on Ukrainian soil and a deepening chasm between Russia and the West.
Bundestag President Bärbel Bas confirmed the exclusion in a statement to the press, citing the “current military aggression of Russia and Belarus against Ukraine” as incompatible with the commemorative spirit of the event. “We honour the victims of World War II and reaffirm our commitment to peace,” Bas said. “But we cannot allow historical remembrance to be distorted for political purposes.”
This is not the first time Germany has taken a harder line against Moscow’s historical revisionism, but it is arguably the most high-profile snub to date. In previous years, German leaders – including Chancellor Olaf Scholz – have been careful to distinguish between the Soviet Union’s role in defeating Nazism and the Kremlin’s modern-day geopolitical ambitions.
However, as President Vladimir Putin continues to invoke the Red Army’s sacrifices to justify Russia’s assault on Ukraine, patience in Berlin appears to have worn thin.
The Kremlin, unsurprisingly, reacted with outrage. A spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the decision as a “disgraceful rewriting of history” and accused Germany of “succumbing to anti-Russian hysteria.” Russian state media, always quick to weaponise grievances, portrayed the move as part of a broader Western attempt to “erase the legacy” of Soviet heroism.
Yet for many in Germany and across Europe, it is not history that is being erased, but history that is being cynically exploited. Since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin has frequently drawn parallels between the current conflict and the Great Patriotic War – the term used in Russia to describe World War II. He has cast Ukraine’s pro-Western government as “neo-Nazi” and portrayed Russia’s military campaign as a righteous continuation of the fight against fascism.
Such rhetoric has met with scorn in the West, where few see any equivalence between Hitler’s genocidal regime and the democratically elected government in Kyiv. Moreover, the invocation of WWII-era narratives has become a key plank in Russia’s propaganda machinery – one that Berlin is increasingly unwilling to indulge.
The snub also extends to Belarus, whose autocratic leader Alexander Lukashenko has been a staunch ally of Moscow and permitted Russian forces to use Belarusian territory as a launchpad for attacks on Ukraine. German officials made clear that Minsk’s complicity in the war made its inclusion in the ceremony equally untenable.
In Moscow, commentators view the exclusion as yet another sign of Germany’s alignment with what the Kremlin terms “Anglo-American hegemony.” But in Berlin, the decision has wide political support. Lawmakers across the Bundestag’s main parties, from the Greens to the conservative CDU, endorsed the move as a necessary stand against authoritarian revisionism.
“The memory of WWII must never be used to justify new wars,” said Norbert Röttgen, a senior member of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee. “Russia’s actions in Ukraine are the very antithesis of the values we commemorate on this anniversary.”
The row is likely to deepen the rift between Germany and Russia, once linked by a complex web of economic, historical, and cultural ties. In recent years, Berlin has pivoted decisively away from its post-Cold War policy of Wandel durch Handel – “change through trade” – abandoning Russian energy supplies and supplying weapons to Ukraine.
As Europe approaches the eightieth anniversary of the war’s end, it is clear that the memory of 1945 remains not only a reflection of the past, but a battleground for present-day politics. In choosing to exclude Russia and Belarus, Germany is sending a stark message: historical memory must not become a cloak for modern-day aggression.
