On Thursday, 14 July, Latvia’s government approved the removal of 69 monuments, plaques and memorials glorifying Soviet and Nazi regimes.
23 June marked the coming into force 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. According to this law, it is prohibited to display in public, except for accredited museums, or in private quarters monuments, plaques, memorials, architectural or art installations and other objects that were put on Latvia’s territory in 1940s and meet at least one criterion – they glorify USSR or Nazi occupation power, events or people related to them, they glorify totalitarianism, violence, military aggression, war or war ideology or include Soviet or Nazi symbols.
In accordance with this law, the monument located in Riga, Victory Park, is also subject to demolition.
A full list of objects to be removed from Latvia’s territory was composed by the Cabinet of Ministers.
National Cultural Heritage Board, Latvian Artists’ Union and Museum of the Occupation of Latvia decided after evaluating objects to be removed decided that 69 objects are to be removed.
These objects are located in 23 municipalities in Latvia.
Most memorials are located within territories of municipalities, and often they are located in areas rarely visited by residents.
The most well-known Soviet era monuments are located in big cities in Latvia. Among the objects to be removed are ones located in Liepaja, Rezekne and Daugavpils, as reported by Ministry of Culture. Aside from the monument in Victory Park, there are several other objects in Riga that will need to be removed. This includes ones in Mežaparka and Rumbula.
Considering National Cultural Heritage Board continues working on the list, it is entirely possible the list may be expanded with new objects to be removed.
Some municipalities in Latvia have already decided what they will do with monuments and memorial plaques to be removed. Some have decided to move them to burial sites with Soviet troops.
Daugavpils administration, meanwhile, has decided to turn to the Constitutional Court in an attempt to challenge the aforementioned law and its compliance with the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia.
Soviet monuments and their place in Latvia became a hot topic in Latvia following the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.