RIGA, March 14 (RIA Novosti) - The legislatures in two Latvian cities have banned street marches honoring the Latvian Legionnaires who fought on the side of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The State Dumas of the capital, Riga, and the resort city Liepaya have also banned all protests against the former Nazi collaborators.
Latvian nationalists and radicals earlier announced their plans to hold traditional SS veterans marches on March 16.
Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga slammed the planned marches Monday. "[Latvia] has set a special date, November 11, for commemorating soldiers, whereas March 16 is a kind of holiday that we really do not need," she said in an interview on Latvian state television. "It is used to attract attention to the alleged revival of fascism and Nazism."
Despite the official ban, the leaders of nationalist movement All For Latvia and youth organization Klub 415 said they would go ahead with their plans anyway.
The leader of the Union of Nationalist Forces said, "The march will be held despite the refusal of the Riga State Duma to give us a permission." He added that a total of 100 veterans and young nationalists would participate in the march that has been scheduled for 15:00 GMT.
Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis assured that all security measures would be in place on March 16.
Meanwhile, two local Russian-speaking organizations have announced that they "would not tolerate the Nazis walking freely on the streets of their cities," which suggests that they are planning unsanctioned protests.
Relations between Russia and the former Baltic republics have been marred by what Moscow calls the unequal treatment of ethnic Russians living in Latvia and Estonia, the alleged persecution of WWII veterans and former Soviet-era officers in the two Baltic states, and the apparent revival of nationalism and fascism there.
"We [Russia] are deeply concerned that Riga and Tallinn continue to praise Nazi collaborators on the one hand, and persecute anti-fascists, war veterans, and those formerly employed by Soviet-era law enforcement agencies on the other hand, " government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta recently cited Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko as saying.
Last year, 20 people were arrested in Latvia during clashes between nationalists and leftist protesters on March 16.
