Latvian authorities nervous as controversial WWII remembrance date nears

With March 16 approaching, Latvia is bracing for an annual controversy over the historically sensitive date evoking tragic events of the past century, which saw the small Baltic country being torn apart by successive invasions of the superpowers engaged in World War II.

The cause of the great commotion in central Riga on March 16 is a procession held each year to remember the Latvian legion, or soldiers who were called up to fight on the side of German forces in the war, as well as counter demonstrations against the commemoration of the Waffen SS veterans.

While those who take part in the procession at Riga's landmark Freedom Monument insist that the legionnaires deserve being remembered as involuntary conscripts who fought the war in hopes to protect their country's independence against advancing Soviet troops, their opponents, mostly Latvia's Russian-speaking residents, argue that honouring the Latvian Waffen SS men amounts to glorification and justification of Nazism.

Latvian authorities have been trying hard in recent years to explain to the international community the history and meaning behind the conflicting public gatherings that are held in downtown Riga on March 16, which is not an official holiday in Latvia.

Last year, the Latvian Foreign Ministry organized a briefing for foreign diplomats to provide them with basic facts about the delicate topic and to reiterate the government's position that the "formation of the Latvian legion was a Nazi crime, as the Hague Convention of 1907 prohibits occupying powers to draft the inhabitants of the occupied territories for military service. The conscripts were labelled "volunteers" to circumvent the Convention. Those who attempted to avoid conscription into the Legion risked imprisonment and later - death penalty".

Although the Latvian government's consistent position is that March 16 is not an official day of commemoration, Latvia as a democratic county ensures all fundamental rights and freedoms, including the freedom of assembly, which means that public groups and activists can stage their events in central Riga also on March 16, the Foreign Ministry said.

The government has also been making great efforts to dissuade state officials, particularly cabinet ministers, from attending the March 16 procession in Riga to underscore its unofficial character. This, however, has not been an easy task, since the right-wing National Alliance, a member of Latvia's centre-right government coalition, vehemently defends its members' rights to participate in the commemorative events.

Last year, participation in the March 16 procession cost National Alliance member Einars Cilinskis the portfolio of environment protection and regional development minister. Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma demanded Cilinskis' resignation after he defied her warning not to join the march.

This year, the local authority of the city of Riga has already authorized the procession and three other public events planned for this March 16 at the Freedom Monument. Two pickets will also be set up outside the Russian and German embassies.

To prevent confrontation, the events have been scheduled so that they did not overlap and participants of the commemorative events and counter demonstrations stayed away from each other. So far, law enforcement authorities have succeeded in maintaining public order at the March 16 events and tensions between participants of the commemorative procession and their opponents have only led to verbal, but not physical abuse.

Like last year, Prime Minister Straujuma has again asked her ministers not to attend the March 16 gatherings in downtown Riga. Earlier this month she voiced confidence that that this year all ministers, including members of the National Alliance, would heed the warning. "The ministers will not take part in events that might prompt provocations," she said.

Solvita Aboltina, the leader of the prime minister's centre-right Unity party, told the press last week that there was a "gentlemen's agreement" in the coalition on ministers' nonparticipation in the March 16 events.

Unlike in previous years, there are concerns not only about Latvia's international reputation but also about geopolitical tensions that have escalated due to the Ukraine crisis and might lead to destabilization in the Baltic states. Furthermore, Latvia is currently holding the rotating EU presidency and is therefore getting much closer media attention, Aboltina explained.

On March 4, the Latvian parliament citizenship, migration and social cohesion committee issued an appeal to the public calling against incitement to hatred on March 16.

The Latvian Legion was established in February 1943 when the country was under German forces' occupation, but March 16 was picked as the commemoration date because on this date in 1944 the 15th and 19th divisions of the legion locked in a fierce battle with the Soviet Army at the Velikaya River in Opochka region in Russia. Endit