Platform of European Memory and Conscience

Platform of European Memory and Conscience

Formation	14 October 2011 (2011-10-14)
Type	Educational project of the European Union
Purpose	Prevent intolerance, extremism, anti-democratic movements and the recurrence of any totalitarian rule in the future; support the activities of institutions engaged in reconciling with totalitarian regimes in Europe
Location	Prague and Brussels
Membership	68 government agencies and NGOs from 15 EU Member States and 8 non-EU countries
President	Marek Mutor
Managing director	Peter Rendek
Parent organisation	European Union
Website	memoryandconscience.eu

The Platform of European Memory and Conscience (Czech: Platforma evropské paměti a svědomí) is an educational project of the European Union bringing together government institutions and NGOs from EU countries active in research, documentation, awareness raising and education about the crimes of totalitarian regimes. Its membership includes 68 government agencies and NGOs from 15 EU member states and 8 non-EU countries including Ukraine, Albania, Georgia, Iceland, Moldova, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Its members include the Institute of National Remembrance, the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen Memorial, the Stasi Records Agency and the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. The platform has offices in Prague and Brussels (formerly). The President of the platform was Göran Lindblad (politician) (2012-2017), later Łukasz Kamiński, former President of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance (2017-2022). In the current term of office Marek Mutor serves the President of Platform.

The platform was founded in Prague on the occasion of the summit of Prime Ministers of the Visegrád Group on 14 October 2011. The signing ceremony took place in the Lichtenstein Palace under the auspices of Czech Prime Minister Petr Nečas, Polish Prime Minister and President of the European Council Donald Tusk, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.^[1][2] Its goal is described as helping "prevent intolerance, extremism, anti-democratic movements and the recurrence of any totalitarian rule in the future."^[3]

The initiative was originally proposed by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes and the Government of the Czech Republic, and the 2008 Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism;^[4] on 2 April 2009, the European Parliament passed a resolution in favour of the initiative,^[5] and in June 2009, the Council of the European Union welcomed the initiative. The Platform of European Memory and Conscience was founded as an initiative of the Polish EU presidency in 2011, after the project had been promoted by the Czech EU presidency already in 2009 and by the Hungarian EU presidency in 2011.^[6] The secretariat of the Platform of European Memory and Conscience was originally hosted by the Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes, and the platform has received a strategic grant from the International Visegrád Fund. The founding institutions included government agencies of the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia, as well as several NGOs. The organisation's strategic partners include the International Visegrád Fund and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The motto of the platform is "democracy matters."