Latvian Ministry of Justice pushes for name change of Soviet-glorifying objects

Justice Minister Jānis Bordāns has asked for the inclusion of a new law on the ending of glorifying the Communist regime and russification in the agenda of the coalition meeting, LETA reported on August 13.

Bordāns said that Latvia's public outdoor space is still quite saturated with the official names representing the ideology of the Soviet Communist totalitarian regime. The introduction to the Constitution of Latvia states the duty to condemn the Communist totalitarian regime.

The purpose of the new law is to eliminate the use of names that glorify the Communist totalitarian regime and are created for the russification of the territory of Latvia and the glorification of Russia.

The draft law aims to implement the principles of non-recognition of the occupation regime and condemnation of the Communist totalitarian regime set out in the Constitution's introduction, namely to prevent threats to Latvia as a democratic, legal and national state, to condemn the Communist totalitarian regime, the occupying power of the USSR, the crimes committed by it and the policies pursued by it.

Similarly, according to Bordāns, the Law will restore historical justice - prevent the representation of false, inaccurate, and biased historical events, honor the performance of the Latvian people in the fights for freedom and resistance to the Communist totalitarian occupation power and show respect for their victims.

It is planned that the renaming will be financed by State resources. As reported earlier by LSM, there has already been a discussion in the public space about possible renaming of streets related to the Soviet regime.

Source:  eng.lsm.lv (Latvian Public Broadcasting)

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