GENOCIDE  WATCH

Latvia continues to grapple with its experience of Soviet rule from 1940/1945 to 1991. Latvia has taken a policy course meant to assert its independence by denying automatic citizenship to those whose families moved to Latvia during the Soviet era. This mainly affects the country's Russian minority, making up 23% of the country. Since the start of the Ukraine War, Latvia has tightened measures, including ending Russian language education and allowing for the deportations of those with Russian citizenship who do not pass a Latvian language exam. These measures run contrary to the European Union's Framework Convention for the Protection of Human Rights, which compels member states to grant full rights to their minority communities. Latvia also continues to be host to annual unofficial celebrations known as "Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires," which celebrate the Latvian Legion, a formation of the SS, as national heroes. Latvian narratives emphasize that members joined to fight for an independent Latvia and claim that, despite being an official SS unit, the legionnaires had no part in the Third Reich’s campaign of extermination against the Jews. There is a clear need for Latvia to address its past and facilitate open discussion about it within its educational system.