LATVIA – NEWS
“He called the Baltic states “Little Russia” and supported genocide!”
Yesterday a petition about demolition of the sculptural monument to Alexander Pushkin in Riga was published on the portal of public initiatives manabalss.lv.
“It is necessary to clean Riga’s public space from the last remaining symbols of Russian imperialism,” said the petition’s author Moritzs Nils Mengelsons.
“At a time when the Russian army is committing war crimes in Ukraine, it is necessary to remember what misfortunes the power of the Russian Empire and its successor, the Soviet Union, brought to Latvia. One of the symbols of that power and its imperialism is the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, whose monument is in Kronvalda Park in Riga. The Russian embassy continues to use it as an instrument of soft power and propaganda,” Mengelsonos writes.
“Firstly, Pushkin has nothing to do with Riga. Secondly, in his works Pushkin supported the Russian Empire’s attack on the Caucasus and the genocide of its inhabitants. Thirdly, he called Ukraine, as well as Baltic countries being at that time a part of the Russian Empire, “Little Russia” in his works. Does such a man need a monument in the centre of Riga?”.
“I call on the Riga City Council to dismantle and remove the monument to Alexander Pushkin and liberate Riga from the remnants of imperialism, as is now happening in many Ukrainian cities – Kiev, Kharkov, Vinnitsa, Zaporozhye and other places. The monument could be melted down and a monument to Atis Kronvalds could be placed in its place, and the park itself would be named after him. In this way the territory of Kronvalds Park will be freed from the legacy of Russian imperialism. This will deprive the Russian embassy of the possibility of continuing to use the monument to spread its narrative and support Russian imperialism,” the author concludes.
Data sourse: manabalss.lv
