Latvian parliament takes first step towards restitution of Jewish properties

Latvian lawmakers on Thursday took the first step towards returning five properties to Latvia's Jewish community which belonged to it before World War II, local media reported.

The parliament voted to send draft amendments on the restitution of the Jewish properties to parliamentary committees for review.

Three of the five properties in question are situated in the Latvian capital city Riga; two others are in the seaside town of Jurmala.

The draft amendments were endorsed by MPs of the center-right Unity party, the opposition leftist pro-Russia National Harmony party, the ruling centrist Union of Greens and Farmers, and the opposition Latvian Association of Regions.

However, most MPs of the ruling nationalist conservative National Alliance voted against the plan and some, like MPs of the opposition leftist For Latvia from the Heart, abstained from voting.

Latvia's Jewish community, which was decimated in the Holocaust during World War II, has said it might claim up to 270 buildings across Latvia.

Dmitrijs Krupnikovs, a representative of the Council of the Jewish Communities of Latvia, said in an interview with Riga TV24 channel on Thursday that the current discussions in parliament concerned the possible restitution of five buildings which used to belong to Jewish organizations, but that he would not want this "tail being cut piece by piece." Enditem