____________________________________________________________________ RUSSIA PROTESTS AS SS VETERANS MARCH IN RIGA ____________________________________________________________________ THE TIMES World News: Europe Friday, 17 March 2000 http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/tim/2000/03/17/x-timfgnrus01003.html FROM MICHAEL BINYON IN MOSCOW HUNDREDS of veterans of the Latvian Waffen SS Legion marched through the streets of Riga yesterday to commemorate their battle against the advancing Soviet Army in 1944. The march drew an immediate and angry response from Moscow, where parliamentarians threatened economic sanctions against Latvia and said that it would take other strong measures to protect the Russian minority there. Unlike in previous years, the Latvian Government stayed away from the march and did not allow any serving military officers to take part. However, Dmitry Rogozin, chairman of the Duma International Committee, said: "We are giving Latvia one last chance." He called the march "another proof of the need for tough an consistent measures by Russia to protect human rights and democracy." Championing the rights of Russian minorities is a touchstone issue for Russian nationalists, and has been a popular campaigning cause during the presidential elections. Tensions with all the Baltic states, which had recently begun to subside, have risen as a result. The veterans marched in their civilian clothes and wore no German medals or insignia. Crowds greeted them with cheers of "glory" and flowers, but members of Latvia's large Russian-speaking minority chanted "fascists" and "shame". Scuffles broke out after elderly Latvians and Russians began trading insults, but no one was injured and police moved in to separate the crowds. "Who were you trying to liberate Latvia from," shouted Nina Noshkina, 78, who fought with the Red Army from Leningrad to Latvia. "We freed this country from fascists - why does Latvia celebrate fascists when the rest of the world condemns them?" At the end of the Second World War thousands of Latvians were conscripted by the German occupation force in a last-ditch stand against the advancing Soviet Army. After the brief but brutal Soviet occupation in 1940, many saw the Russians as the greater evil and willingly fought side by side with the Nazis. Since regaining independence, Latvia has commemorated the battle on March 16, and last year, provoking intense global criticism, declared the day National Soldiers' Memorial Day. The march is especially awkward for Latvia as it attempts to enter the European Union. Jewish groups in Latvia dismissed the veterans' claim that they had nothing to do with the massacre of Latvian Jews, 95 per cent of whom were killed during the German occupation. They said that the Waffen SS connection was too strong to brush aside. Moscow put pressure on Riga to cancel the march, saying that it was an insult to the Russian minority and part of a Latvian nationalist campaign. In an astute move, acting President Putin sent a message to the American Congress on the eve of the march underlining his opposition to all forms of anti-Semitism. He offered in a letter on Wednesday to co-operate with Western countries and international organisations to work against any resurgence of anti-Semitism."There is no place for this in civilised society," he said in response to a call from 92 Congressmen and 98 senators. The Waffen SS march has outraged American Jews. Copyright 2000 Times Newspapers Ltd. --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
