Against tradition: Latvia intends to introduce punishment for wearing the country's armed forces uniform on May 9

In Latvia, the celebration of Victory Day on May 9 led to a scandal. The reason was the participation in a memorial event in Daugavpils of a man who was wearing a Latvian military uniform. The corresponding photo was published by the TVNET portal. It was made during the march organized by the Daugavpils Society of Fighters of the anti-Hitler coalition.

It is worth noting that in Latvia, Victory Day is officially celebrated on May 8. The authorities of the country do not approve the holding of events dedicated to the victory in the Second World War, on May 9, according to the Soviet tradition.

Ta dēvētās "Uzvaras dienas" pasākumā Daugavpilī piedalījies arī rezervēts Latvijas armijas karavīrs https://t.co/o6yBYwg0vS

As the official representative of the Ministry of Defense Kaspars Galkin explained, after checking the picture, it turned out that the man was wearing the parade uniform of the National Armed Forces (NAF) of Latvia.

According to Galkina, the Minister of Defense of the country Artis Pabriks condemns this behavior of the reserve officer and considers it “morally unacceptable” for a person to take part in the Latvian military uniform at such an event, since he took the oath of allegiance to Latvia.

The Defense Ministry indicated that the servicemen of the country who had been transferred to the reserve were allowed to wear ceremonial clothes on official public holidays, on memorable dates, as well as on various activities supported by the department and NAF. At the same time at the moment in the republic there is no penalty for the “illegal” wearing of uniforms on other days. In this regard, Pabriks instructed the Ministry of Defense to prepare appropriate amendments to the legislation on bringing violators to justice.

Along with this, the deputy of the parliament from the political party of the nationalist sense “Everything for Latvia!” Janis Dombrava called non-citizens of the country celebrating on May 9 at the monument to the soldiers-liberators in Riga unworthy of Latvian citizenship.

“A gift of citizenship will not make such people loyal to Latvia, because they express their loyalty to another state. This sabotage against Latvia is to give citizenship to these people! ”He said.

Recall that the Latvian parliament approved in the first reading a bill on the automatic granting of citizenship to children of non-citizens. According to the nationalist deputy, such families will not become more loyal to the Latvian authorities.

“This is a hoax, such people are never integrated into Latvian society. They openly say that they will fight with weapons in their hands against Latvia if such a situation arises, ”said Dombrava.

Despite the fact that the official commemorative events of Victory Day in Latvia are held in accordance with the European tradition on May 8, thousands of people gather in Riga on May 9 at the monument to soldiers-liberators, paying tribute to those who fought against the Nazis. At the same time, about 20 thousand people took part in the march of the Immortal Regiment in the Latvian capital, in which participants of the action carried photographs of relatives and friends who participated in the Great Patriotic War.

“The rightists are constantly turning to the topic of Russophobia”

According to the head of the Historical Memory Foundation, Vladimir Simiding, forbidding people to celebrate Victory Day on May 9, the Latvian authorities are only deepening the split in society.

"In these conditions there is a competition, who will invent the greatest meanness: someone wants to demolish the Riga monument to the liberators from the Nazi invaders, someone tries to prohibit the citizens of Latvia who served in the Armed Forces, to participate in the form of events dedicated to the victory over Nazism . It only stirs up hatred and division within the Latvian society and contributes only to the aggravation of all those social and psychological problems that exist in modern Latvia, ”the expert noted.

In turn, Vladimir Olenchenko, a senior fellow at the Center for European Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recalled that on Victory Day in neighboring Estonia they made territorial claims to Russia.

“Right-wing forces in the Baltic countries have a serious shortage when the question arises of providing a constructive program, so they constantly turn to Russophobia. In all three Baltic republics, there are serious problems with the welfare of the population. The current authorities, instead of dealing with these issues, unfortunately, are spending money on defense because of the allegedly exaggerated Russian threat, ”the interlocutor of RT stressed.