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Diplomat slams Latvian draft law on status of World War II participants as outrageous

According to the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, the draft law is a dramatic confirmation of the fact that the double-talk process is taking even uglier shapes

MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. The draft law granting the status of World War II participants to people who fought on either side of the front that was approved in the second reading in Latvia’s Sejm is outrageous, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.

"Latvia’s Sejm has approved in the second reading the draft law granting the status of World War II participants to people who fought on both sides of the front," she said. "We, for our part, received this information with indignation; this isn’t the first time official Riga openly glorifies Nazi criminals." "Latvia’s authorities once again took a step towards freeing Nazi criminals from guilt and placing the Latvian SS Legion soldiers on the same footing as the Red Army soldiers who liberated the world from Fascism," she added.

According to Zakharova, the draft law that passed the second reading is a dramatic confirmation of the fact that the double-talk process is taking even uglier shapes.

"We consider as absolutely unacceptable the urge to rewrite history and doubt the results of World War II and the Nuremberg trials that recognized SS as a criminal organization," she stressed.

The diplomat pointed out that Russia expects to get adequate assessment of this issue from relevant international organizations, Latvia’s partners in the EU and public veteran organizations.