GENEVA, May 11. /TASS/. Russia stated its extreme concerns in the UN over events that justify Nazism which take place regularly in Latvia. During the review of the report of the UN Council working group on human rights report, Russia recommended banning congregations in remembrance of the Waffen SS legionnaires and to condemn the praise of Nazi collaborators.
"We are extremely concerned by the regular Nazism glorification events taking place in Latvia. We recommend to prohibit the annual congregations in remembrance of the Waffen SS legionnaires in Riga, and to decisively condemn all attempts to honor those who collaborated with the Nazis," Russian delegation head Kristina Sukacheva said at the working group meeting.
According to the diplomat, the situation with the linguistic minorities in Latvia, known as "non-citizens," also causes concerns.
"We recommend to ensure the full implementation of their rights and facilitate their integration in the Latvian society without any discrimination," the Russia diplomat said.
In particular, she pointed out, the procedure of their naturalization must be simplified; they must be provided with equal access to the labor market, education, healthcare and social benefits. Riga was recommended to "review the Law on the national language, which discriminates the linguistic minorities in matters of employment and interaction with the state agencies," as well as to bring people "guilty of pressure on the Russian-language media and political persecution of public figures and journalist" to responsibility.
March 16 marks the unofficial day of remembrance of the Waffen SS Latvian legion. Every year, Latvian radicals hold public events this day. Two Latvian Waffen SS divisions were established in 1943. Following the separation of the Latvian Republic from the USSR, March 16 was an official red-letter day for several years. However, the government made this day unofficial following harsh criticism from both Russia and the West.