Decommunisation policies: experiences of Central and Eastern Europe, and Baltic states, with a view to Belarus
ENIssues related to comprehension of the soviet/communist legacy in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as well as former USSR countries have always appeared problematic. Across the region, ambiguity and disputability in approaches to the interpretation of the soviet past and soviet historical and cultural heritage always cause bitter debates, since they contain numerous sociocultural traumas, nostalgic experiences, ideologies, identity issues, and geopolitics, producing multiple interpretations of the soviet historical and cultural legacy. In this article, I will try to present various approaches to the decommunisation policies through the prism of interpreting and using the ‘soviet historical and cultural heritage’. Before dwelling on the ‘soviet heritage’, it is yet necessary to define this broad concept. Under soviet heritage, I understand the universe of tangible and intangible heritage, as well as the universe of historical, sociocultural and spiritual values, originating from the territory of former USSR and member states of the Warsaw Pact since the moment of appearance until the end of existence thereof, or objects directly associated with the soviet period at a certain territory [...]. [From the publication]
