Event commemorating Latvian WWII soldiers passes without serious incidents

An annual procession here on Monday to remember the Latvian soldiers who were drafted to fight on the side of German forces in World War II took place without any major incidents, police said.

About 1,500 people joined the procession, which each year causes serious controversy both in Latvia and abroad. Like in previous years, a fence was put around the landmark Freedom Monument in downtown Riga. Police were deployed in large numbers to maintain order at the public gatherings taking place in the city center.

Participants of the commemorative march, who insist on remembering the Latvian WWII legionnaires as involuntary conscripts who fought the war in hopes to protect their country's independence against advancing Soviet troops, arrived at the Freedom Monument to lay flowers and remember the fallen soldiers.

Some of them engaged in disputes about historical and political issues with onlookers in the crowd, but by and large the event passed more peacefully than in previous years, police said.

After the commemorative event was over, about a dozen activists from Latvia's Anti-Nazi Committee arrived at the Freedom Monument in overalls and with buckets and mops in their hands, to "cleanse" the area in front of the monument. In their view, the procession glorified Nazism.

No arrests were made during this year's procession and the counter-demonstration, police said. Endit