DISINFO: Latvia rewrites World War II history
SUMMARY
Latvia is engaged in rewriting history, speaking out against the fireworks in honour of the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Riga from Nazi invaders. Soviet troops liberated Riga from the Nazis on 13 October 1944, the victory of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War does not need to be rewritten, this is an historical fact.
RESPONSE
Another example of pro-Kremlin historical revisionism. More cases here. The Soviet Union occupied Latvia twice. The first time the occupation lasted a year. In the summer of 1940, when Nazi Germany attacked France, the Red Army occupied Riga. This was enabled through a secret protocol to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact on the separation of spheres of influence between the Soviet Union and fascist Germany. The second time, Soviet troops captured Latvia on 13 October 1944. Modern Latvia received full independence only after the collapse of the Soviet Union. In 2015, the Ministers of Justice of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia signed a joint declaration on the calculation and the need to receive compensation for damage caused by the occupation of the USSR. The Baltic States' leadership have repeatedly emphasised that Russia is the successor of the USSR, therefore, it has an obligation to compensate the Baltic countries for the losses incurred. Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also emphasised that any events planned in Russia to celebrate the liberation of Riga from Nazi troops are unacceptable, because for the Baltic countries this "liberation" meant only a change from one occupying power to another, this one lasting 50 years.