RIGA — The decision by the Riga City Council to ban all public gathering on March 11 has sparked a wave of criticism from patriotic Latvians and even led some to warn of imminent clashes.

Daugavas Vanagi, a patriotic organization representing World War II veterans and their family members, has vowed that it will lay flowers at the Freedom Monument regardless of the council decision, setting the stage for a [private_supervisor]counter-protest by ethnic Russia groups who oppose the March 16 procession.

An act of defiance by patriotic Latvians would seem inevitable, since according to tradition they attend mass in Riga Cathedral and then proceed to the Freedom Monument, where they lay flowers and sing the national anthem.

This year, however, Riga City Council is controlled the left-wing Harmony Center, a pro-ethnic Russian integration party that detests the procession and equates it with fascism. Riga’s mayor is an ethnic Russian mayor who adheres to the typical Russian viewpoint on Latvian history: there was no occupation after World War II and the Latvians who belonged of the Waffen SS legion, the Legionnaires, were lackeys of the Third Reich. The Baltic states were taken over by the Soviet Union in 1939 only to be occupied by the Germans during the subsequent Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R. Some Latvians viewed the Nazis as liberators, despite the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Latvia’s Jews and Nazis’ planned ethnic cleansing of the Balts after defeating the Soviets.

Not surprisingly, the council, citing a police report that public disturbances are possible, ruled last week to ban both the memorial procession and a counter-protest by anti-fascist agitators.

Is the report real?

However, Minister of the Interior Linda Murniece said no such report came from the police. The city council “ought to respect the wish to hold the meetings if this concerns organizations for whom this is a commemorative day,” the minister told the Delfi portal on Monday.

Even though the council has forbidden the procession and the protest, both could still take place by winning authorization through the courts. This has happened before in past years, and could easily be repeated this year. A member of Daugavas Vanagi, Jānis Atis Krūmiņš, told BNS Monday that veterans and relatives would attend church service and lay flowers at the Milda monument in downtown Riga.

“Last year they were even willing to provide buses to Lestene for us, just to prevent us from going to the Freedom Monument. This year they are ready to allow us to go to the monument, but only without Latvia’s national flags. So they are willing to do everything to undermine the Latvian national self-esteem,” said Krūmiņš.

He added it was unthinkable to proceed to the monument without flags. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]counter-protest by ethnic Russia groups who oppose the March 16 procession.

An act of defiance by patriotic Latvians would seem inevitable, since according to tradition they attend mass in Riga Cathedral and then proceed to the Freedom Monument, where they lay flowers and sing the national anthem.

This year, however, Riga City Council is controlled the left-wing Harmony Center, a pro-ethnic Russian integration party that detests the procession and equates it with fascism. Riga’s mayor is an ethnic Russian mayor who adheres to the typical Russian viewpoint on Latvian history: there was no occupation after World War II and the Latvians who belonged of the Waffen SS legion, the Legionnaires, were lackeys of the Third Reich. The Baltic states were taken over by the Soviet Union in 1939 only to be occupied by the Germans during the subsequent Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R. Some Latvians viewed the Nazis as liberators, despite the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Latvia’s Jews and Nazis’ planned ethnic cleansing of the Balts after defeating the Soviets.

Not surprisingly, the council, citing a police report that public disturbances are possible, ruled last week to ban both the memorial procession and a counter-protest by anti-fascist agitators.

Is the report real?

However, Minister of the Interior Linda Murniece said no such report came from the police. The city council “ought to respect the wish to hold the meetings if this concerns organizations for whom this is a commemorative day,” the minister told the Delfi portal on Monday.

Even though the council has forbidden the procession and the protest, both could still take place by winning authorization through the courts. This has happened before in past years, and could easily be repeated this year. A member of Daugavas Vanagi, Jānis Atis Krūmiņš, told BNS Monday that veterans and relatives would attend church service and lay flowers at the Milda monument in downtown Riga.

“Last year they were even willing to provide buses to Lestene for us, just to prevent us from going to the Freedom Monument. This year they are ready to allow us to go to the monument, but only without Latvia’s national flags. So they are willing to do everything to undermine the Latvian national self-esteem,” said Krūmiņš.

He added it was unthinkable to proceed to the monument without flags. [/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]counter-protest by ethnic Russia groups who oppose the March 16 procession.

An act of defiance by patriotic Latvians would seem inevitable, since according to tradition they attend mass in Riga Cathedral and then proceed to the Freedom Monument, where they lay flowers and sing the national anthem.

This year, however, Riga City Council is controlled the left-wing Harmony Center, a pro-ethnic Russian integration party that detests the procession and equates it with fascism. Riga’s mayor is an ethnic Russian mayor who adheres to the typical Russian viewpoint on Latvian history: there was no occupation after World War II and the Latvians who belonged of the Waffen SS legion, the Legionnaires, were lackeys of the Third Reich. The Baltic states were taken over by the Soviet Union in 1939 only to be occupied by the Germans during the subsequent Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R. Some Latvians viewed the Nazis as liberators, despite the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Latvia’s Jews and Nazis’ planned ethnic cleansing of the Balts after defeating the Soviets.

Not surprisingly, the council, citing a police report that public disturbances are possible, ruled last week to ban both the memorial procession and a counter-protest by anti-fascist agitators.

Is the report real?

However, Minister of the Interior Linda Murniece said no such report came from the police. The city council “ought to respect the wish to hold the meetings if this concerns organizations for whom this is a commemorative day,” the minister told the Delfi portal on Monday.

Even though the council has forbidden the procession and the protest, both could still take place by winning authorization through the courts. This has happened before in past years, and could easily be repeated this year. A member of Daugavas Vanagi, Jānis Atis Krūmiņš, told BNS Monday that veterans and relatives would attend church service and lay flowers at the Milda monument in downtown Riga.

“Last year they were even willing to provide buses to Lestene for us, just to prevent us from going to the Freedom Monument. This year they are ready to allow us to go to the monument, but only without Latvia’s national flags. So they are willing to do everything to undermine the Latvian national self-esteem,” said Krūmiņš.

He added it was unthinkable to proceed to the monument without flags. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]counter-protest by ethnic Russia groups who oppose the March 16 procession.

An act of defiance by patriotic Latvians would seem inevitable, since according to tradition they attend mass in Riga Cathedral and then proceed to the Freedom Monument, where they lay flowers and sing the national anthem.

This year, however, Riga City Council is controlled the left-wing Harmony Center, a pro-ethnic Russian integration party that detests the procession and equates it with fascism. Riga’s mayor is an ethnic Russian mayor who adheres to the typical Russian viewpoint on Latvian history: there was no occupation after World War II and the Latvians who belonged of the Waffen SS legion, the Legionnaires, were lackeys of the Third Reich. The Baltic states were taken over by the Soviet Union in 1939 only to be occupied by the Germans during the subsequent Nazi invasion of the U.S.S.R. Some Latvians viewed the Nazis as liberators, despite the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Latvia’s Jews and Nazis’ planned ethnic cleansing of the Balts after defeating the Soviets.

Not surprisingly, the council, citing a police report that public disturbances are possible, ruled last week to ban both the memorial procession and a counter-protest by anti-fascist agitators.

Is the report real?

However, Minister of the Interior Linda Murniece said no such report came from the police. The city council “ought to respect the wish to hold the meetings if this concerns organizations for whom this is a commemorative day,” the minister told the Delfi portal on Monday.

Even though the council has forbidden the procession and the protest, both could still take place by winning authorization through the courts. This has happened before in past years, and could easily be repeated this year. A member of Daugavas Vanagi, Jānis Atis Krūmiņš, told BNS Monday that veterans and relatives would attend church service and lay flowers at the Milda monument in downtown Riga.

“Last year they were even willing to provide buses to Lestene for us, just to prevent us from going to the Freedom Monument. This year they are ready to allow us to go to the monument, but only without Latvia’s national flags. So they are willing to do everything to undermine the Latvian national self-esteem,” said Krūmiņš.

He added it was unthinkable to proceed to the monument without flags. [/private_subscription 1 year] — This is a paid article. To subscribe or extend your subscription, click here.