HELSINKI, April 27 (RIA Novosti correspondent Olga Andrianova) – Finland’s President Tarja Halonen has called on the European countries to study World War II history.

“The joint study of history is vital in connection with the victory celebrations,” she said at a press conference Wednesday, which is Veterans Day in Finland.

Only by studying the history jointly “will we remember what happened and hope that it will not happen again,” the president said. “The analysis of the past is good medicine against prejudices and bitterness.

“However, the joint study of history must not prevent us from looking into the future,” Halonen stressed explaining her decision to attend VE-Day’s 60th anniversary in Moscow.

She said she admired the veterans’ attitude toward the past.

“They don’t want it [the war] to ever happen again and have their own view of the situation,” she said. “They were the first who said that if we were given an invitation [to attend the 60th anniversary in Moscow], we should accept it.”