FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 30, 2010

CONTACT: Mark Levin (202) 898-2500 MLevin@ncsj.org

NCSJ Condemns Nazi Commemoration in Riga

Latvian government speaks out against planned march

WASHINGTON, D.C. – NCSJ strongly condemns plans for a march in Riga, Latvia, intended to honor the anniversary of the invasion of Nazi forces.

Latvian nationalists have received a permit for the march, which will take place on the evening of Thursday, July 1, 69 years after Nazi forces invaded Latvia in 1941. The Riga city council and the mayor denied a permit for the march on June 19, on the grounds it would promote inter-ethnic hatred and a prohibited ideology. A June 29 court ruling overturned the council’s decision. The city tried to block a similar march in March 2010, which courts permitted.

Latvia’s government at the highest levels has condemned the march. President Valdis Zalters statement called the march “provocative…[and] a mockery of the country’s independence.” Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis and Foreign Minister Aivis Ronis issued a joint statement condemning the march, saying they are “puzzled and upset” by the court’s decision to allow it to proceed. Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs has ordered police to disperse the event if the marchers display “even the smallest sign of praising Nazism, racism or anti-Semitism.”

The march comes just days before a visit by Israel’s Foreign Minister, who plans to attend a July 4 commemoration of Latvian Jews and other victims of the Holocaust. U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Judith Garber will also attend the ceremony.

NCSJ Chairman Richard Stone and Executive Director Mark Levin said “We commend the Latvian government’s stance against the march. At the same time, we have to question why the courts would allow this to occur. It’s barbaric and incomprehensible to honor the Nazi forces that slaughtered Latvia’s Jewish citizens.”

For further information about the march, please contact Mark Levin (202-898-2500, MLevin@ncsj.org).

NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia, founded in 1971, represents the organized American Jewish community in monitoring and advocating on behalf of the estimated 1.5 million Jews living in the 15 successor states of the former Soviet Union.

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