In a more relaxed country, at another time in Europe’s recent history, the gigantic monument in Riga’s Pardaugava (Victory) park would perhaps be described in tourist brochures as “a must-see selfie for fans of Soviet retro.”
But right now, the colossal monument to the Liberators of Latvia from the Fascist Invaders – with its 72-meter obelisk and statues of the motherland and three Red Army soldiers – is surrounded by a police fence. “You can’t take photos!” orders a young policewoman.
55% of Latvians speak Latvian at home, 26% speak Russian, and 17% both languages
Behind the barriers are some daisies and roses left behind on May 9, the 77th anniversary of the German surrender to the Soviet Army in Berlin at the end of World War II. Although many flowers had been lifted in the shovel of a bulldozer the day after the ceremony, and thrown in the garbage. Orders of the Riga city council.
In previous years, tens of thousands of people – mainly the 30%-40% of the population that is Russian-speaking – flocked to the monument to commemorate what they see as the liberation of Riga by the Soviet army. For most Latvians, it is a hateful symbol of occupation.
Until this year the peace had been maintained. But since the invasion of Ukraine, the monument – erected in 1985, just six years before the collapse of the USSR – has become a tinderbox. Although much fewer people attended to pay tribute this year, the controversy is already served.
Two parties of the Latvian nationalist right, members of the coalition government, used the opportunity to resolve pending legal questions about the destruction of the monument. Parliament then approved removing it from the Pardaugava park, with 67 votes in favor and 17 against, with the support of Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš. The City Council must already decide if it wants to dynamite it or take advantage of offers from Crimea and Saint Petersburg to keep it. It is an election year in Latvia and the demolition of the monument can translate into votes.
“Many Latvians see the invasion of Ukraine as a repetition of our history; the Russians even repeat that of crushing the Nazis”, says Arnis Katkins, director of the SKDS pollster. “People cannot see the Soviet monument with the same eyes after what has happened in Ukraine.”
Latvia was invaded by the Soviets after the Molotov-Ribbentrop agreement between Stalin and Hitler in 1939. Then the Germans arrived in 1941 and three years later, the Soviets again
Last week, some 5,000 anti-Soviet protesters crossed the Daugava River to the Soviet monument to demand its demolition. The next protest will be by defenders of the Soviet monument led by Latvian Russian Union MEP Tatjana Ždanoka, who was detained by police after a May 13 demonstration against bulldozing and demolition.
Instead, the citizens of Riga who walked through the park last Tuesday were either indifferent or opposed to the demolition. “I do not care. It’s a matter of the generation
before,” said Ludovic, a 25-year-old chef at the Snob restaurant in the resort.
Some fear a repeat of what happened in neighboring Estonia in 2007, when the decision to move the so-called bronze soldier another Soviet monument, from the center to the outskirts of the capital, Tallinn,
sparked a wave of riots.
Others warn that an outbreak of protests could be used by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a pretext to launch aggression against Latvia.
The background of the crisis is “the total failure of the integration policies of Russian-speakers”, explains Juris Rozenvalds, historian at the University of Riga.
Following Latvia’s independence in 1991, it was decided to leave 700,000 Russian-speakers – more than 30% of the population – without citizenship and without the right to vote, mainly because they did not speak Latvian, the only official language. “It’s a bit humiliating for Russian speakers, but we Latvians are obsessed with the language issue,” adds the bilingual Rozenvalds.
It was feared that the presence of thousands of Russian immigrants in Latvia – many of them military retirees – would sabotage the independence project. Now only 1% lack citizenship. But a broth of resentment was created that still simmers.
There are problems of political representation as well. Latvia’s largest party, the Social Democrat Saskana (Harmony), supported mainly by Russian-speakers, has never been able to enter a coalition government.
According to an SKDS survey conducted two weeks ago, 55% of Latvians speak Latvian at home, 26% speak
Russian, and 17%, both languages. Paradoxically, part of the Russian-speaking population is made up of migrants from Ukraine, Belarus and Georgia.
About 90% of those who speak Latvian at home support Ukraine in the war against Russia. Russian speakers are more cautious. 47% say they neither support Ukraine nor Russia. “Russian speakers watch Russian TV and Latvians watch Latvian TV,” says Katkins. Now the Russian media is banned, but social media keeps the two conflicting realities in the collective Latvian consciousness. “I listen to the Russian, Latvian and English media,” said a bilingual migrant from Rezekne, the daughter of a “non-citizen” who was returning to Manchester on a Ryanair flight. “I don’t trust any of them.”
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