Russian MFA Information and Press Department Commentary Regarding March of Former SS Men in Riga
On March 16 a "traditional" procession of former SS men and members of national-radical organizations took place in
Riga. It was timed for another "anniversary" of the Latvian SS Legion.
The Russian side has repeatedly designated such actions as immoral and inadmissible. It is particularly cynical that
they are being held with the consent of the authorities, who ahead of the 60th anniversary of Great Victory persistently
seek in European capitals support for Riga's course towards a review of the results of World War II and the judgment of
the Nuremberg Tribunal, which declared the SS to be a criminal organization.
Only by a distorted logic is it possible to explain the situation, where the legionnaires march through the center of
the Latvian capital and police uses force against antifascists. All this is happening in present-day Latvia, which the
European Union claims fully meets the "Copenhagen criteria" in the sphere of democracy.