🇷🇺🇱🇻 Commentary of the Russian Embassy in Latvia:
"On April 25, 2023, the Riga City Council approved the decision to dismantle the monument to Alexander Pushkin located in the city center.
The great Russian poet is accused of serving as a "symbol of Russian imperialism" and a "tool of soft power" of the Russian Embassy. In fact, this cowardly trick of the local Russophobes is a cynical attempt to prevent the monument from transforming into a new center of attraction and spiritual unity of the Russian-speaking residents of Latvia.
There was certainly no broad public discussion of this idea: it was initiated by a small group of the nationalistic deputies in the Riga City Council. No one even bothered to ask the opinion of hundreds of thousands of Riga`s residents.
How can such a blatant barbaric act towards a monument devoted to the internationally recognized genius of the world literature occur in a civilized state, the cities of which claim to be the "Cultural Capital of Europe"?
This Jesuit decision, made under hypocritical politicized slogans, is another clear evidence of the rise of xenophobia in the republic and leads to the further increase of interethnic tensions.
Such policy of the Latvian ruling elites deserves nothing, but strong condemnation, and should not be left without attention and principled response from Latvia's partners in the European Union and international specialized organizations".
#Riga #Latvia #Pushkin #Russia #RussianEmbassy
"On April 25, 2023, the Riga City Council approved the decision to dismantle the monument to Alexander Pushkin located in the city center.
The great Russian poet is accused of serving as a "symbol of Russian imperialism" and a "tool of soft power" of the Russian Embassy. In fact, this cowardly trick of the local Russophobes is a cynical attempt to prevent the monument from transforming into a new center of attraction and spiritual unity of the Russian-speaking residents of Latvia.
There was certainly no broad public discussion of this idea: it was initiated by a small group of the nationalistic deputies in the Riga City Council. No one even bothered to ask the opinion of hundreds of thousands of Riga`s residents.
How can such a blatant barbaric act towards a monument devoted to the internationally recognized genius of the world literature occur in a civilized state, the cities of which claim to be the "Cultural Capital of Europe"?
This Jesuit decision, made under hypocritical politicized slogans, is another clear evidence of the rise of xenophobia in the republic and leads to the further increase of interethnic tensions.
Such policy of the Latvian ruling elites deserves nothing, but strong condemnation, and should not be left without attention and principled response from Latvia's partners in the European Union and international specialized organizations".
#Riga #Latvia #Pushkin #Russia #RussianEmbassy