Experts have presented Latvian government with a list of 69 objects that glorify the Soviet Union and should be removed, as journalists were told by National Cultural Heritage Board (NKMP) head Juris Dambis on Thursday, 30 June.
In total the committee composed for this task surveyed 162 objects to see if they meet the criteria listed in the law and should be removed. The survey showed that some of the objects in question are already one, have no ideological purpose or are located at burial sites.
With that the government was presented with a list of 69 objects to be removed.
Considering that the decision to remove the monument dedicated to the Soviet army in Pārdaugava has already been made, this means the number is 70.
On 30 June experts told journalists they hope the list will be expanded in the future.
This is necessary because many objects that glorify the Soviet occupation power were left in ruin and lost in bushes and forests even during the Soviet rule.
On 16 June the Saeima passed in the last reading the Law on prohibition of display of objects praising the Soviet and Nazi regimes and their dismantling in the territory of the Republic of Latvia. This law provides for the removal of objects glorifying totalitarian regimes by 15 November 2022. The list of objects to be removed from Latvia’s territory will need to be composed by the government, which will make its decision based on recommendations from experts.
Vība reminded that the law details three groups of objects – first here is the monument dedicated to the Soviet army in Pārdaugava. According to her, it must be removed. Then there is the list approved by the government and any other objects municipal administrations are free to remove on their own.
The museum’s director said experts have assessed more than 300 objects, but a much shorter list will be submitted to the government, since some of those objects no longer exist, have fallen apart or already removed. On top of that, some of them do not fall under the conditions listed in the new law.
The final decision regarding the list of objects to be dismantled will be made by the government.
Most of those objects are memorial plaques or stones. This makes them simple to remove. There are also larger objects and sculptures. Most of these objects are located in Riga.
Previously Vība explained that the museum will evaluate each object and whether or not it should be preserved and stored in the museum. The list of objects to be removed is prepared by the National Cultural Heritage Board (NKMP).
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As for the preservation of those objects, the director of the museum explained that it may include the entire object or its fragments.
Because municipal administrations will make decisions about objects located within their territories, their materials or plaques will be donated to the museum and NKMP, which will evaluate it is worth preserving them.
According to Vība, if the Museum of the Occupation of Latvia decides an object is not to be preserved, it will be physically destroyed.
BNN previously reported that on 16 June the Saeima passed in the final reading the aforementioned law. 61 deputies voted in favour and 19 voted against.
Deputies rejected the proposal to have the objects and memorials removed sooner – August or September. Riga CEO’s advisor Māris Knoks said at a previous meeting of the Education, Culture and Science Committee – considering the size of the monument in Pārdaugava, meeting the existing deadline – 15 November – is already a challenge.
The law details the demolition of the monument in Victory Park. The dismantling of its underground portion will need to be done by 30 June 2023. The removal of the rest of the monument’s parts will be decided by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Dismantling of objects in question will be the responsibility of municipalities within the territories of which memorials and plaques are located.
It is planned for the dismantling to be financed from finances donated by private and legal persons. The rest will be provided in equal amounts from the state and municipal budgets. The law also includes special rules for objects to be dismantled, specifically that each individual municipality has the right to initiate the dismantling and removal of objects from their territory regardless of who owns the land it stands on.
The annotation of the law states that the goal of the law is preventing the denouncement and threat to the values of Latvia as a democratic and national state, express a condemnatory stance against the illegal occupation powers of the USSR and Nazi Germany, as well as to prevent false, inaccurate and biased reflection of historical events.
According to the law, it is not allowed to publicly demonstrate monuments, artistic installations and other objects that fit one of these criteria – the object glorifies USSR or Nazi German occupational power, events or persons associated with them, glorify totalitarian ideology, violence, military aggression and war ideology or includes Soviet or Nazism symbols.
The topic of the removal of monuments became topical following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.