On Wednesday, 25 May, Saeima’s Education, Culture and Science Committee decided to submit to the Saeima a new legislative project, which provides for the demolition of Victory Monument Dedicated to Soldiers of the Soviet Army – Liberators of Latvia and Riga from German Fascist Invaders.
The legislative draft provides for letting the Cabinet of Ministers list other objects to be demolished by 30 July 2022.
Demolition of all objects will have to be done by 15 November 2022. It will be the duty of municipalities where those objects are located.
It is planned to primarily finance demolition using donations from private and legal person. The remaining funding will be provided from the state and municipal budgets.
The legislative project also details special rules for demolition of the objects, including the requirement that states municipal administrations are authorized to initiate demolition regardless of the object’s affiliation and without coordinating with land owners or legal managers. The legislative project also cover topic of special rules for procurement procedures. Municipalities are planned to be provided with rights to organise procurements for monument demolition purposes without the application of rules that govern public procurements.
Fragments with artistic or education value are planned to be donated to Museum of the Occupation of Latvia.
The objective of the legislative project submitted by the committee is preventing risks for Latvia as a democratic and national country, as well as condemning Soviet and Nazi Germany’s occupation, policy and crimes committed in the country. Additionally, the legislative project is also intended to promote society’s understanding of what happened in Latvia during WWII and after the war, as well as ensure the restoration of historic justice – prevent false, inaccurate and subjective reporting of historic events and promote Latvian national resistance against USSR and Nazi Germany.
There are approximately 300 monuments, memorial plaques and memorials dedicated to the Soviet regime and army in Latvia, according to the annotation of the legislative draft.
It is planned for the legislative project to not extend to monuments, memorial plaques and locations, architectural or artistic installations located within territories of burial places of soldiers who died in the war and memorials dedicated to victims of Soviet and Nazi terror.
The committee will ask the Saeima to declare the legislative project urgent and review it in the first reading without repeated review on Thursday, 26 May.
The new new law is planned to come to force on the next day after promulgation.
Monument in Victory park will need to be demolished by 15 November
