Photo credit: Russian Union of Latvia - Latvijas Krievu savienība / youtube.com
The Riga authorities demolished the monument to Alexander Pushkin, the BALTNEWS telegram channel. The city administration has long been planning to dismantle the sculpture of the great Russian poet, installed in the Kronvald park. On the night of May, 30, the monument was taken away in the dark, without informing anyone.
The Russian Embassy in Latvia called the incident ''a cowardly trick of local Russophobes'', undertaken out of fear that residents would united by common cultural values. Russian diplomats are sure that hundreds of thousands of Latvians would continue to honor Pushkin's great legacy. They also pointed out that the dismantling of the monument was carried out secretly, at night, in order to avoid public reaction, and the decision on this was made without taking into account the opinion of the townspeople and the author of the monument.
By demolishing objects of Russian culture, the Latvian authorities demonstrate their own weakness, the embassy stressed.
The authorities justified the decision to destroy the sculpture legally, declaring that the monument was allegedly located in the park illegally. It turns out that almost 15 years ago, when the monument was erected in 2009, various authorities did not agree on this decision.
Russkiy Mir
