MOSCOW. June 14 (Interfax) - The decision by the Latvian government to remove a monument to Soviet soldiers who freed Riga from the Nazi runs counter to a bilateral agreement on the social protection of military pensioners, Artyom Kozhin, head of the department of information and press at the Russian Foreign Ministry, said.
"We note that Article 13 of said document [the Russian-Latvian intergovernmental agreement of April 30, 1994, on the social protection of Russian military pensioners and their families, who reside in Latvia] compels Latvia 'to ensure care, improvements and preservation of memorials in Latvia," Kozhin said in a comment published on the ministry's website on Friday.
Kozhin urged Saeima to take into account "the opinion of a significant part of Latvian population, which opposes the removal of the monument in Riga."