RIGA- After rejecting the proposal for
renaming Riga's airport after Latvia's first Foreign Minster, the
city council has agreed to rename Basteja
Boulevard to honor Zigfrids Anna Meierovics.
President Valdis Zatlers had been a staunch
proponent of renaming the street since its inception, calling it one of his
priorities for the year.
Despite objection by the Riga City Council's Monument
Protection Inspection, the Riga City Council's City Development Department and Riga mayor Janis Birks, 34
council members voted in favor of renaming the street.
Birks had earlier
proposed to rename the airport to honor Meierovics, but the proposal was shot
down by Transport Minister Slesers.
The street, Basteja Boulevard
running along Riga's
old town, originally bore Meierovics' name from 1929 to 1941.
