Against the beginning of the destruction of a monument to the victory of the Red Army in World War II on 23.08.2022 protest formed in Riga.
This was preceded by a corresponding parliamentary resolution. On the one hand, the Russian attack on Ukraine was once again used as a justification for this atrocity. On the other hand, Soviet social imperialism, which had this monument erected in 1985, was used as an argument. Although the anger at the revisionists is justified, in this case it is a pretext for anti-communism and chauvinism.
The monument has a similar significance in Latvia as the Soviet Memorial in Treptow Park has for Germany. People of Russian origin, anti-fascists and communists traditionally commemorate the victory in the Great Patriotic War there on May 9. The whole incident is alarming for the memorial as well; after all, this year there have been massive moves to place it close to Russian imperialism and to scandalize it.
According to various sources, five to fourteen demonstrators were arrested during the protests against the demolition of the 76-meter-high obelisk. This repression was praised as "perfect" by Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks. This was also accompanied by a threat to foreign demonstrators who did "illegal things" while protesting against historical events of this kind: "They will be included in Latvia's list of undesirable persons and expelled from the country." This must also be understood as a threat to the 25% ethnic Russians of the Latvian population. With words and deeds of this kind, the political rulers in the Baltics are increasingly outdoing themselves as vassals of the imperialist powers of the NATO alliance.
