OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2009. Question: How could you comment upon the events held in Riga in honor of former Waffen SS legionnaires?

Answer: Of course, we have taken note of the fact that the Riga Duma had this time banned the staging of this event. Understandably this was done in deference to European, and then also domestic public opinion. Yet, regrettably, despite this, ex-legionnaires and their followers from nationalist organizations actually did manage to hold their unauthorized event to glorify the “exploits of former SS men” fully in line with the traditions of previous years.

Surprisingly there was no adequate reaction from the Latvian authorities, who ought to have ensured the realization of their own decisions. Zeal, however, was shown in the opposite direction: police actions sought to halt antifascists’ protests, not the illegal get-together of former SS men. Moreover, authorities had refused a number of foreign (including Russian) visitors entry into the country who had been heading to the Future without Nazism conference held the day before. Such actions can only be designated as a continued practice of connivance at the neo-Nazis.