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Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the European Union

Submitted on 2017-03-17 13:11:44

Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova on the annual Waffen SS march in Riga

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Latvian veterans of Waffen SS units and their supporters marched through downtown Riga on March 16, while the authorities averted their eyes from an event that is a disgrace to an EU member country. As in the past, MPs from the ruling coalition and likeminded supporters from Lithuania, Estonia and Ukraine hailed those who are responsible for the death of thousands of civilians during WWII.

In a particularly cynical gesture, the government in Riga referred to members of the Latvian Legion, which was part of Hitler’s Waffen SS, as freedom fighters and victims of the tragedy that Latvians suffered in the war years.

Russia has made several public statements on these disgraceful gatherings that glorify the soldiers of the Latvian Legion. We reject as unacceptable any attempt to rewrite the outcome of WWII or to call into question the verdicts of the Nuremberg Trials.

We hope that the international community and concerned international organisations will provide an appropriate response to what is going on in Latvia.

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