According to information from Latvian municipalities, all 69 objects believed to glorify the Soviet union have been removed from the country’s territory within the term ordered by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Municipalities have also reported removing 55 other objects from the list composed by the government. Removal of those objects was carried out following the initiative from local governments.
Ministry of Culture reminds that the 69 objects included on the list of monuments, plaques and memorials glorifying the Soviet Union were not stationed at troop burial sites.
According to National Cultural Heritage Board’s (NKMP) Objects of Culture Office manager Jānis Asaris, the institution’s inter-institutional work group analysed proposals from local governments in regards to a total of 70 objects in Latvia.
«This means the number of objects removed in Latvia may increase even more, since local governments have decided to continue dismantling work after 15 November,» says Asaris.
As previously reported, 23 June 2023 marked the coming into force of the Law on the prohibition of display of objects glorifying the Soviet and Nazi regimes and their dismantling in the territory of Latvia. In accordance with this law, it is prohibited to put on public display monuments, commemorative signs, memorial plaques, memorial sites, architectural or artistic formations and other objects located in the territory of Latvia since 1940 that meet at least one of the following criteria: glorify the USSR or Nazi German occupation power, events or people related to the two, glorify totalitarianism, violence, military aggression, war and war ideology, or include symbols of Soviet power or Nazism.
