Demolition crews in Latvia introduced down a 260-foot monument erected through the Chilly Battle that was seen as an emblem of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic nation.
The obelisk which loomed over Victory Park in Riga, Latvia’s capital metropolis, was constructed in 1985 to commemorate the Soviet Military’s victory over the Nazis. Its elimination on Thursday was broadcast dwell on Latvian media.
“Latvia takes down one of many symbols of the Soviet occupation in Riga. Closing one other painful web page of the historical past and searching for a greater future,” Latvian Overseas Minister Edgars Rinkevics stated in a Twitter put up.
The tower was embellished with 5 golden stars, every symbolizing a yr of World Battle II, and flanked on both aspect by bronze statues of troopers and a lady representing the “Motherland.”
Latvia’s parliament, the Saeima, handed a regulation in June 2022 mandating the dismantling of web sites throughout the nation “glorifying the Soviet and Nazi regimes” and particularly recognized the monument in Victory Park for destruction.
The regulation stated a neighborhood authorities in an space the place a Soviet-era monument is positioned “has the best to provoke dismantling whatever the possession of the positioning and the land on which it’s positioned.”
Underneath the brand new regulation, all Soviet and Nazi-era monuments should come down by Nov. 15.
Latvia has been a NATO member since March 2004. On Aug. 11, the nation designated Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism” over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.