In the Latvian capital Riga, Russians protested against the demolition of the monument to the liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German-fascist invaders. During the protests, the police detained five people, they face deportation.
Delfi writes about it.
The protest was organized by the "Union of Russians of Latvia" party, although the Riga City Council forbade it to be held for security reasons. However, people still gathered near the monument.
In total, about 50 people gathered for the action. Some came with flowers, some with Latvian flags. Most of the activists stood peacefully, but some people started arguing among themselves.
The police called on everyone present to disperse, but they were not listened to. Later, the law enforcement officers had to disperse the action, five people were detained. An administrative case was initiated against them for non-compliance with the law on rallies.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the country, Edgars Rinkevichs, emphasized that the protesters against the demolition of the monuments will be threatened with deportation.
"If any foreigner (regardless of nationality) is exposed in illegal and unauthorized actions during the dismantling of the monument in Victory Park, he will be included in the list of undesirable persons for Latvia and expelled from the country," he said.
- In Estonia, Soviet monuments along the Narva River also began to be dismantled on August 16. A tank in the city of Narva is also being removed from public space. 88% of the population there are Russians, they were against the transfer of the tank. For the sake of safety, the law enforcement officers closed traffic around the monuments for vehicles and pedestrians.
- On August 4, the Estonian government agreed to remove all Soviet monuments from public space as soon as possible. In total, there are 200 to 400 such monuments in Estonia. Anyone who has such monuments on private territory can move them themselves. A special issue is the Narva tank, which belongs to the city of Narva. The local community of Russians is against its transfer. But Estonian Interior Minister Lauri Ljaanemets said that the tank will be removed by August 20.