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Latvian President Egils Levits made a video message to fellow citizens in connection with the demolition of the monument to the Liberators of Riga. He stressed that he supports the decision of the National Parliament and the Riga City Council to dismantle the memorial.
“The toxic radiation of this object exceeds the scale of one municipality”, – said Levits. According to him, it would be important that the decision to dismantle the monument was taken by the Sejm, removing all bureaucratic obstacles to the execution of the decision of the Riga City Council by a separate law.
Levits believes that the question of the future of this memorial became especially important on February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine. He also noted that on May 20, a mass march dedicated to getting rid of the Soviet legacy will be held in the country.
Earlier, the vice-mayor of the city, Edwards Smiltens, said that after the dismantling, it is quite possible that Russia will be able to take away the monument to the Liberators of Riga. Before that, the Riga City Council voted for the demolition of the monument.
Prior to that, the Governor of the Leningrad Region, Alexander Drozdenko, announced his readiness to accept a monument to the Liberators of Riga on the territory of the Leningrad Region.