Law enforcement authorities in close cooperation with security services and the Riga municipality are preparing and are ready to prevent any disorders in Riga, which may arise due to the removal of the monument dedicated to Soviet soldiers in the Victory Park, minister Kristaps Eklons said in an interview with TV3 program 900 seconds.
The minister said that there were no major protests in the Estonian city of Narva when the monuments with Soviet symbols were dismantled, but at the same time he admitted that the monument in Latvia is bigger and has a more complicated history.
«This is exactly what we are preparing for, this is what all the security services and the Riga municipality are preparing for, and in close cooperation we are also preparing for all kinds of scenarios ,» Eklons said.
«WE WILL DEFINITELY BE READY TO ACT, MAKE DECISIONS AND ACT, NOT ALLOWING IT TO CAUSE POTENTIAL DISorders.»
When asked if the police at different levels shouldn’t review the guidelines on how to respond adequately in situations where the Russian invasion of Ukraine is praised, Ukrainian supporters are insulted or any other similar hate crimes are committed, Eklons replied that it is very important to react in a correct manner, but such cases are very rare.
«Those cases can literally be counted on the fingers of one hand, but usually they are heard so loudly and are examined so widely that it seems immediately that it is a mega common problem. [..] All these cases are just so sensitive that there are simply no such [cases] that you don’t know about,» said the minister.
As reported before, the monument honoring the Soviet soldiers built during the occupation of Latvia in Pārdaugava, in Vicotry Park, will be demolished by November.
THERE ARE CONCERN THAT PROTEST ACTIONS COULD BE ORGANIZED DUE TO THIS EVENT, ONE OF WHICH HAS ALREADY ANNOUNCED by Latvian Russians Union (LKS).
LKS co–chairman Miroslavs Mitrofanovs informs on the party’s Facebook page that he has submitted an application for holding a protest action.
The protest is planned on Monday, August 22, and the event is planned in Victory Park, in the square behind the monument.