Riga City Council votes in favour of demolition of «Occupation monument»

On Friday, 13 May, Riga City Council voted in favour of demolition of the so-called Occupation monument in Riga, Pārdaugava.
39 deputies voted in favour of demolition and 13 voted against.
Riga City Council called an extraordinary meeting to discuss the fate of the Soviet monument in Victory Park.
The legislative draft prepared by Riga City Council provides for having Riga Monuments Agency to take necessary actions «to ensure the monument to the Soviet army is demolished and removed from the park».
The legislative draft also provides for having Riga City Council City Development Department, Riga City Council Property Department and Riga municipal policy to provide Riga Monuments Agency the necessary support to ensure the decision is carried out.
At the start of the meeting there was a short ten-minute break, so that Harmony political party’s deputies are able to resolve connection problems and be able to participate in the meeting. The ten-minute break was announced following a request from the party’s Riga City Council faction leader Konstantīns Čekušins.
As previously reported, on Thursday, 12 May, Latvia’s Saeima passed in the final reading amendments proposed by the Foreign Affairs Committee, lifting legal obstacles to demolish the Soviet monument located in Pārdaugava, Victory Park.
The topic of the Soviet Victory Monument became a hot topic following Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.