Legionnaire’s Day ends peacefully

RIGA - Interior Minister Linda Murniece (Unity) says she is satisfied with how the public events marking March 16, Latvian Legion Day, unfolded at Riga’s Freedom Monument last week, reports news agency LETA. Various groups were able to express their political views, and there were no “serious incidents,” she said.

“This is a day when we can be proud of our police force,” said Murniece and added that “the officers have proven their competence today.” She confirmed that no arrests had been made. The minister, however, reiterated that several potential troublemakers were detained on the border with Estonia in the days leading up to the event.
Around one thousand people participated in the procession, which started at Dome Square in Riga and ended at the Freedom Monument to commemorate the WWII Latvian Legion, while approximately one hundred ‘anti-fascists’ and their supporters met them at the monument. Members of the two groups frequently found themselves in arguments and debate with their opponents, but no incidents occurred and both sides dispersed peacefully.

Members of Latvia’s Anti-Fascist Committee gathered at a fence surrounding the Freedom Monument already at 10 a.m. to protest against the procession and the laying of flowers at the foot of the monument. The other group of Latvian Legion opponents, the Association of Latvia’s Citizens and Non-citizens, eventually joined the ‘anti-fascists’ where they were given the chance to speak to passersby through a megaphone.
As the procession was approaching the Freedom Monument, a large number of passersby stopped to observe. Most of them sympathized with the procession participants, and many got involved in arguments with the ignorant members of the Anti-Fascist Committee.

Part of the anti-Legion Day rally participants said they had actually come to protest against such problems as staff and wage cuts in the police, increased Latvenergo electricity tariffs and other social and economic problems. They also claimed that the Latvian Legion procession was meant to divert public attention from these problems, and was negative to Latvia’s international image.

As the procession reached the monument, the Anti-Fascist Committee activists started to shout ‘Shame!’ and ‘No to Fascism,’ whereas many of those who had stopped to observe the ceremony urged the activists to go back to Russia. Some altercations and pushing ensued, but these scuffles never escalated.
The Freedom Monument was fenced off from the morning, and a large number of police officers were posted to the area to keep the peace. The number of police officers was doubled before the arrival of the procession. Interior Minister Linda Murniece (Unity) was also observing the scene from behind the monument.

The minister said that the number of people participating in pro- and anti-Legion events was larger this year than in 2010; however, the number of those who stopped by to watch the developments at the monument was much smaller. Murniece also said that the number of opponents of the Latvian Legion was trifling compared to the number of those who had come to honor the fallen Legionnaires; furthermore, the opponents seemed to be rather disunited.

The Foreign Ministry announced it would not react in any way to Russia’s usual statements regarding March 16 events in Latvia, because Latvia’s position on the matter is clear, said the ministry’s press secretary Janis Silis. “I believe there is no need to react, because the March 16 events passed peacefully and without incident,” stressed Silis.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the March 16 procession commemorating the Latvian Legion was “unacceptable,” and called it an “attempt to rewrite history.”

The All for Latvia! party turned to the police requesting that a member of an ‘anti-fascist’ rally at the Freedom Monument be brought to court for assaulting a senior Latvian citizen during the March 16 event. During the procession, a Russian-speaking woman, member of the Latvia’s Anti-Fascist Committee, confronted a senior Latvian woman, slapped her and spat on her.
All for Latvia! urged the police to establish the identities of the persons involved in this incident and evaluate whether the assailant can be held accountable.

On March 16, 1944, two divisions of the Latvian SS Legion, called up and forced to engage in military service in the German occupation army, engaged in a battle against the Soviet Red Army at the Velikaya River in U.S.S.R. territory. Many Latvians, who were forcibly called up to join the Latvian SS Legion, saw the German army as the lesser of two evils. For many of these soldiers, the choice to join the Latvian SS Legion was a result of the brutal Soviet Russian occupation between 1940 and 1941, during which tens of thousands of Latvians were executed or deported to Siberia. Many soldiers naively believed that, if they helped Germany win the war, Latvia might be rewarded with independence or autonomy. The anti-Legion protesters started to disperse at about 12:15 p.m., saying that they had showed the world that “Riga does not support glorification of Waffen SS legions.”

Since 1952, ‘Daugavas Vanagi,’ an organization of WWII war veterans, commemorates March 16 as Latvian Legionnaire Remembrance Day. This is marked each year unofficially.