European Countries Marking VE-Day

Foreign countries continue to mark VE-Day, which is also celebrated by Russia as the USSR's victory in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War. RIA-NOVOSTI correspondents report: BELGRADE. On May 9 wreaths and flowers were laid at a memorial to Belgrade's liberators and at a local monument to Soviet soldiers. Representatives of the municipal administration, Russian Embassy officials and those from other Russian organizations in Yugoslavia, as well as the chiefs of Belarus and Ukrainian diplomatic missions, also attended that ceremony. 1.396 Yugoslav soldiers, as well as 808 Red Army soldiers, are buried at Belgrade's cemetery. Wreaths and flowers were also laid at monuments and Soviet military cemeteries in nine other Yugoslav cities. Virtually every Yugoslav populated locality hosts VE-Day celebrations today, with military units organizing 60-minute memorial ceremonies in honor of war and resistance-movement heroes. SOFIA. Wreaths were laid at a monument to Red Army soldiers in downtown Sofia today on behalf of the Russian Embassy, the Belarus Embassy, the Moldavian Embassy and the Ukrainian Embassy. That ceremony also involved officials from other Russian organizations in Sofia, Bulgarian war veterans, who fought against the Nazis, members of the local public, as well as military attaches from countries-members of the anti-Hitler coalition. An improvised concert was organized by activists of the Bulgaria - CIS friendship society prior to the ceremony. Flowers were also laid at a vault, which contains the remains of Soviet soldiers, who died from their wounds at Sofia hospitals. The Russian Embassy in Bulgaria hosted an official reception in honor of the 56-th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War. However, the Red Army monument in downtown Sofia was vandalized once again the other day, with the hoodlums smearing its pedestal with red paint. Bulgaria does not officially celebrate VE-Day. HELSINKI. Finland marked Europe Day May 9, what with members of the Finland-Russia society laying wreaths at eight war memorials to fallen Soviet soldiers, e.g. graves on Hanko (Hango) peninsula, in Suomussalmi and Kuhmo that were the scene of bitter fighting during the war. Flowers were also laid at the graves of POW-s (Prisoners of War) in Lappeenranta, Tampere, Porvoo and Malmi, as well as at another war memorial, which is located on the territory of a former Soviet naval base in Porkkala. Representatives of local administrations, as well as officials from Russian missions in Finland, attended those ceremonies.