Sveiki, all!

We're back from vacation. London was abuzz with mad cow disease, foot and mouth disease, and a bombing of the BBC (no deaths thanks to a prior warning)... Latvia was hectic, just long enough to celebrate Peters' aunt's 100th birthday!

The big news was the Latvian elections, where the power definitely shifted to the left. While it was a heavy turnout, there seemed to also a definite undercurrent of "it's not working that well, let's try something else..." whether or not people voted for a major party or, for example, the Green Party. The party which plastered up lots of pictures of its people (endless rows of the same pictures as you crossed the bridge into Riga) didn't do as well as it hoped... it looked like a throwback to propaganda times! Then there was buying votes with yellow roses. And the candidate who paid his company's debts with government funds -- of course, when that was found out, he "promptly repaid" (and states so, rather indignantly, when questioned about the whole sordid affair)... why he's not in jail is a complete mystery to us.

In the »news:

• Russia »blasts U.S. human rights report -- Their attitude is how dare the U.S.complain about Chechnya when there's Latvia to punish. And how dare the U.S. find Latvia not at fault? So, not having two garages for both of one's Mercedes (heard that described as "Latvian oppression") is now morally equivalent to the slaughter of innocent civilians?
• Gorbachev says »Baltic membership in NATO will worsen relations with Russia, says it will cost Russia's "trust," and that the Baltics just need to get used to Russia being "big" -- Just one more reason to actively stay out of the shadow.
• Belarus' prime minister opened »"Belarus Expo 2001" in Riga -- It was held the same time as the book/school fair which Peters attended, so he got to see examples of Belarussian tractors, trailers, buses... actually, they all looked quite well made. Now if their political situation only improved a bit.
• Nordic media confirms rumors of »Russian nuclear missles in Kalingrad -- There may be good reason to not trust Russia, which continues to deny any missle presence.
• U.S.-Russian »relations cool as mutual Cold War era spying continues, among a seeming raft of problems.
• »Social democrats score big in Latvian local elections
• Classic!! Russian/Soviet propaganda... Tass reports »Russia's complaints to the United Nations, Russian deputy minster labels Latvians and Estonians "intolerant" and "xenophobic" -- That Russia keeps going after Latvia only indicates how upset Russia is (still!) at losing Latvia... all the more reason for (all ethnicities of) Latvians to value Latvia.
• Foot and mouth disease is now »affecting the livestock industry globally -- We would note, however, that there are periodic outbreaks all over the world, and that is nothing new.
• Lower house of Russian parliament officially »adopts the old national anthem (same guy redoes lyrics one more time, previously it was to get rid of Stalin), 345 in favor, 19 against, and 1 abstention -- Would one not be frightened if, say, Germany adopted a Nazi anthem with just word changes to drop "mein Fuhrer"? Harkening to the stirring melody of the glory days of mass murder just proves how blind Russia is to its own past and illustrates its continuing total state of denial regarding past atrocities -- or is it more an active cover-up? Even today, how many know Nikita Kruschev made his name shooting Ukranians when Stalin was unhappy that his (i.e., Stalin's) campaign of Ukranian mass starvation wasn't achieving results fast enough?
• Latvian Waffen SS volunteers »commemorate their fallen comrades -- One would hope that some day Latvia will have the backbone to affirm that the vast majority of these soldiers were merely fighting to keep the Russians out (many not even by choice, being conscripted) -- remember, it was the Soviet "Year of Terror" (1940-1941) that turned Latvians against the Soviets, using whatever means possible to drive them out, even if it meant siding with the Germans (who where the last enemy Latvia drove out to achieve its first independence).

For this week's link, we would like to invite you to »revisit our home page if you haven't been there for a while -- we have some new features of hsitorical interest.

This week's picture is a »peek into Old Riga (Vecriga), taken in August 1997.

As always, AOL'ers, Remember, mailer or not, Lat Chat spontaneously appears every Sunday on AOL starting around 9:00/9:30pm Eastern time, lasting until 11:00/11:30pm. AOL'ers can follow this link: »Town Square - Latvian chat. And thanks to you participating on the Latvian message board as well: »LATVIA (both on AOL only).

Ar visu labu,

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This week's link is to our home page, www.latvians.com (or just plain latvians.com). We have recently added two new features we hope you find worthwhile:

• A collection of »folk costume renderings by Anna Darzina; these were published during the DP era (and were bought at that time by Peters' father) [mentioned last week]
• Excerpts from »"These Names Accuse," the list of deportees sent to Siberia from Latvia in 1940-1941. With the kind permission of the Latvian National Foundation in Sweden, its publisher, we have reproduced the entire introductory contents (Preface, Historical Summary, and Appendices) from the book, and added our own personal introduction to it

Russia blasts critical U.S. human rights report

Reuters North America Thursday, March 01, 2001 1:19:00 PM
Copyright 2001 Reuters Ltd.

    MOSCOW (Reuters) -- The Russian government denounced Thursday a critical U.S. State Department report on human rights in Russia, saying it was heavy-handed and overlooked shortcomings in America's record at home.
    A Foreign Ministry statement noted praise in the report for Russia's electoral process and freedom of assembly and said Moscow was willing to admit "inevitable" difficulties encountered as post-Soviet reforms were proceeding.
    But it said the report, issued this week, also contained "contrived assessments" of the situation in Chechnya, where Russia is battling separatist rebels, and in its considerations on freedom of the press and religion.
    "We cannot tolerate the superior tone and peremptory accusations of a country where unpunished cases of police violence, anti-Semitism and racism are far from isolated, as is the failure to observe basic constitutional rights and freedoms," the statement said.
    It said even U.S. commentators had cited the dispute over the U.S. presidential election as proof that "despite 200 years of experience, the procedure of ensuring the democratic expression of voters' will in the United States is far from perfect."
    The State Department report singled out Russia's conduct of Chechnya as the single most important shortcoming in its human rights record. It referred to "numerous credible reports" of abuses, including killings, torture and rape in the Kremlin's 17-month-old drive to crush separatists.
    The report also said Russian authorities had "brought considerable pressure to bear" on large media outlets, particularly in the fight for control of Media-Most, Russia's only independent nationwide media network.
    The Foreign Ministry also complained that the U.S. report had issued "practically unblemished" reports on the former Soviet Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, where Moscow regularly alleges Russian-speakers are subjected to discrimination.

Gorbachev says NATO membership would ruin Baltic-Russian relations

AP WorldStream Friday, March 02, 2001 10:33:00 AM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press

    TALLINN, Estonia (AP) -- Ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned the Baltic states that their relations with Russia, already cool, could dramatically worsen if they succeeded in joining the NATO alliance, Moscow's Cold War enemy.
    Speaking in a discussion recently taped in Russia and aired Thursday night on Estonian state television, he said marginal improvements in Russian-Baltic relations would be dramatically reversed if the Baltics entered the alliance.
    "I can't imagine what would happen if NATO embraces you," said Gorbachev, Soviet leader in the early 1990s when the Baltic states were struggling to break free from Moscow rule. "There will be no trust at all from Russia then."
    After regaining independence following the 1991 Soviet collapse, the three Baltic states made NATO membership a top priority, saying they wanted to integrate fully with the West and they had security concerns vis-a-vis Russia.
    Moscow has expressed fierce opposition, saying membership for former Soviet republics would threaten Russian security. NATO says its door is open to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania but that they're not yet ready militarily to join.
    Gorbachev said the small coastal nations needed to accept Russia as a neighbor and learn to coexist without NATO. "Russia is huge, and that fact can never be changed," he said.
    Baltic leaders have denounced suggestions they could be locked out of the alliance from fear their membership will renew East-West tensions that were a hallmark of the Cold War.
    "That would be outdated, pernicious and obscene," Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Belarus cabinet head to open economy exhibition in Latvia

COMTEX Newswire Tuesday, March 06, 2001 6:03:00 AM
Copyright 2001 Itar-Tass

    RIGA, Mar 06, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- Belarussian Prime Minister Vladimir Yermoshin is arriving in the Latvian capital Riga on Tuesday evening to attend Days of Belarussian Economy here and to open an exhibition titled Belarusexpo '2001.
    The visit will be sheerly businesslike, Belarussian Ambassador to Latvia Mikhail Marinich told Itar-Tass. According to him, the growing economic cooperation between the two countries will boost their political relations. "Our products arise enormous interest here. This time, the fourth annual exhibition will be attended by over 120 companies and enterprises," the diplomat said. The mutual trade turnover is growing and Belarus has expanded exports via Latvian ports.
    Meanwhile, Latvian officials consider the Belarussian Premier's trip a private affair. Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga said in this regard that Latvia has complied with the recommendations of the EU countries and the United States to abstain from top-level diplomatic contacts with Belarus. The situation might improve only if Belarus accepts recommendations of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Nordic media claim confirmation of Russian missiles in Kalingrad

AP WorldStream Wednesday, March 07, 2001 10:07:00 AM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
By DOUG MELLGREN
Associated Press Writer

    OSLO, Norway (AP) -- U.S. intelligence has comprehensive evidence that Russia moved nuclear weapons into its Kaliningrad province closer to Western Europe, a leading Norwegian newspaper claimed Wednesday.
    The news media in neighboring Sweden made similar claims.
    For months, Russia has denied reports that it secretly moved atomic weapons into Kaliningrad. The enclave is a Baltic Sea port between Poland and Lithuania on a sliver of territory not connected to the rest of Russia.
    U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in January, said there were strong indications of such a deployment, but Washington has offered no public confirmation.
    The respected Oslo newspaper Aftenposten said top military officers in Norway -- a NATO member -- confirmed the existence of U.S. intelligence reports on the deployment and said the reports cover a Russian nuclear weapons buildup in the Baltic Sea area.
    Moscow opposed the 1999 expansion of NATO to include Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, and it fears that a possible expansion to include the former Soviet Baltic states Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia could be a potential military threat.
    Aftenposten said the weapons were transported to the Russian port of St. Petersburg on a special train, then shipped to Kaliningrad on Russian navy ships. The newspaper said all top Norwegian officers it talked to confirmed the report, but they refused to go on the record.
    The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet said Tuesday that U.S. satellites tracked the weapons on that route to a Kaliningrad airfield.
    "There are nuclear weapons there," a U.S. government representative was quoted as telling Svenska Dagbladet on condition of anonymity.
    "If Russia has deployed tactical nuclear arms in Kaliningrad and at the same time denies this, it is very serious," Stefan Noreen of the Swedish government's European Union unit said.
    The Norwegian Supreme Defense Command and the Ministry of Defense both declined comment. Ministry spokesman Kirsti Skjerven said weapons referred to by the news media are short range tactical weapons that -- if deployed -- would be stockpiled rather than armed and ready on launch pads.

Spy revelations add to U.S.-Russian tensions

AP WorldStream Saturday, March 10, 2001 9:55:00 PM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
By TOM RAUM
Associated Press Writer

    WASHINGTON (AP) -- President George W. Bush has yet to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and seems in no rush to do so. As they wait, grievances on both sides multiply.
    New spy revelations -- disclosures of an alleged longtime Russian mole at the FBI and a U.S.-built eavesdropping tunnel beneath the Russian Embassy -- are just the latest irritants.
    "Our relations with the Russians haven't been this bad since the Cold War," said Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, a leading congressional authority on Russia.
    The Bush and Putin governments have sparred over missile defense, NATO expansion, International Monetary Fund loans and dealings with Iran and Iraq.
    The White House wants "good relations with Russia, straightforward and direct," spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
    But it has yet to announce any plans for a Bush-Putin meeting. Their first get-together may be in late July, on the sidelines of an annual summit of the largest industrial democracies in Genoa, Italy.
    Weldon, just back from his 23rd visit to Moscow as head of a bipartisan panel that meets regularly with the Russian parliament, considers this a mistake.
    "Bush is going to have a real challenge putting things back on track" and should not wait until the Italy conference for a face-to-face meeting, he said. "It should be sooner rather than later."
    Other advisers suggest the Bush national security team is purposely taking its time -- to signal an intention to put relations with Russia on a more normal footing.
    For instance, Bush has no plans to name a special envoy to Russia, as former President Bill Clinton did.
    Clinton and former Russian President Boris Yeltsin forged a warm personal friendship, marked by bearhugs and backslapping in public. Few expect such behavior between the cool, pragmatic Putin and the cautious Bush.
    The latest spying revelations are dramatic, but may pose little long-term damage to relations between the two nuclear powers.
    "People in both countries know spying goes on all the time. We dig tunnels, they dig tunnels," said Keith Bush, an expert on Russia at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
    Relations turned frosty with the U.S.-led NATO campaign against Yugoslavia in 1999. More recently, Moscow condemned Bush's ordering last month of U.S. and British airstrikes in Iraq.
    Russians voice particular alarm over Bush's advocacy for a multibillion-dollar national missile defense shield, considering it a violation of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty and a threat to global stability. Putin has countered with his own missile defense plan for Europe.
    "The 1972 ABM treaty is like an axis to which a whole series of international security agreements is attached," Putin said last week. "As soon as we pull out this axis, all of them will automatically fall apart. The whole of today's international security system will collapse."
    Other areas of contention:
     -- The administration's opposition to further easy-money terms for Russia. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill called efforts by the IMF and the Clinton administration to rescue Russia during the 1998 ruble crisis "crazy."
     -- Russia's sale of missile technology to Iran, North Korea and other countries. Putin's visits to Iraq, Cuba and North Korea also raised eyebrows.
     -- U.S. support for additional eastward expansion of NATO.
    Many congressional conservatives want the three Baltic republics -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia -- eventually included in the alliance. That would infuriate the Russians, who view them as part of the former Soviet Union.
    Secretary of State Colin Powell conceded "a unique set of sensitivities" on the Baltic states. But he told the House International Relations Committee, "Russia will never be given a veto as to whether they come in or not come in."
    "The U.S.-Russia relationship is troubled both ways," said retired Rep. Lee Hamilton, a one-time chairman of that committee. Americans are frustrated by Russian's failure to more fully embrace democratic reforms, dismayed by widespread corruption and nervous about Putin, the Indiana Democrat said.
    "But you could flip it around," said Hamilton, now director of the Woodrow Wilson International Center. "The Russians are suspicious of Americans, too. They think we engineered the collapse of the Soviet Union and that we're now holding back their development."

EDITOR'S NOTE -- Tom Raum has covered Washington for The Associated Press since 1973, including five presidencies.

Left-wing parties score major advance in municipal elections

AP WorldStream Monday, March 12, 2001 4:01:00 PM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
By STEVEN C. JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

    RIGA, Latvia (AP) -- The left-wing Social Democrats, shut out of national government in the decade since this former Soviet republic regained independence, appeared to have won the single-biggest bloc of votes in municipal elections in the capital, which would entitle them to the most seats on the city council, ballot officials said Monday.
    The projected results based on partial returns showed that other leftist parties notably For Equal Rights, which includes some former Communist Party leaders, also did well in Riga as well as rural and agricultural areas where voters worry that economic gains achieved since the Soviet collapse have not trickled down.
    "People are disappointed in the policies of the last 10 years and they understand that we represent interests of the poor and the middle class, not the rich," said Social Democrat leader Dainis Ivans.
    In all, 35 parties competed for 4,335 posts across this small Baltic Sea coast nation. Officials did not specify what proportion of ballots the projections were based on. Final results probably won't be ready for days, election officials said late Monday.
    Left-wing gains hint at a shifting political landscape that could reshape the national government in next year's parliamentary elections.
    Since independence in 1991, successive center-right governments have overseen steady economic growth while keeping inflation low and reining in public spending through program cutbacks, pension reform and reduced state subsidies.
    The Social Democrats, campaigning on issues such as increased pensions and farm subsidies, a national minimum wage and a go-slow approach to privatizing state industries, won about 23 percent of Sunday's vote in Riga, ballot officials said, entitling the party to 14 seats on the 60-seat municipal council.
    For Equal Rights tallied 21 percent and 13 seats in Riga, preliminary tallies showed, and won the most votes in Rezekne, a poverty-stricken city near the Russian border.
    The center-right People's Party and Latvia's Way, which along with that nationalist Fatherland and Freedom party dominate parliament, retained support in some areas, including the western coastal city of Liepaja, where the first two together collected some 35 percent of the vote.
    But in Latvia's political and economic heart, the capital, they managed a modest 10.6 percent for the People's Party and just 8.7 percent for Latvia's Way, according to the partial returns. If that holds up, Latvia's Way would see its city council representation drop to five seats from the current 13.
    Fatherland placed third overall in Riga, with 17 percent and 11 seats. The Social Democrats have already launched talks with the center-right party, which is seen as the least rigid of the three that currently run the government.
    "The big question is if these two join forces, what implication it will have for the national government," said political analyst Nils Muiznieks.

PROPAGANDA ALERT!!! "Inequality" of Russians in Latvia and Estonia

COMTEX Newswire Wednesday, March 14, 2001 4:36:00 AM
(c) 1996-2001 ITAR-TASS

    UNITED NATIONS, Mar 14, 2001 (Itar-Tass via COMTEX) -- Russia is troubled by systematic discriminations against the Russian-speaking population in Latvia and Estonia, Deputy Minister for Labour and Social Development Galina Karelova told Itar-Tass here on Tuesday. She is taking part in the work of the 45th session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, which is currently under way at the U.N. Headquarters. "These manifestations of anti-Russian moods can be seen at all the levels of public and economic life," she stated.
    Almost one million people are left without citizenship in the very heart of Europe and more than fifty per cent of them are women, Karelova added. In her opinion, this is "one of the most shrewdest forms of xenophobia and ethnic discrimination, and women are practically the first to suffer from them". The list of differing rights enjoyed by citizens and so -- called non-citizens includes almost sixty instances, the deputy minister stressed. "This affects tens and even hundreds of thousands of people, who were born and grew up on this land, but are now regarded as people of a wrong sorts due to their ethnic origin," she stated.
    Karelova expressed the conviction that modern democracy "should not be built on intolerance and xenophobia".

Foot-and-Mouth Disease Forces Bans

AP Online Wednesday, March 14, 2001 7:51:00 PM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
By PAMELA SAMPSON
Associated Press Writer

    PARIS (AP) -- Nations from Australia to Latvia slapped bans on European Union meat and livestock Wednesday, restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of a virulent disease that has cropped up among farm animals in France and Britain.
    Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Norway were the latest countries to announce bans on imports of livestock and meat products from the 15-nation EU after foot-and-mouth disease was found Tuesday among cattle in northwestern France.
    Japan, Estonia and Latvia on Wednesday announced they were banning livestock products from France. Belgium, Spain and Portugal shut their borders to French meat or livestock earlier in the week.
    Some countries even said they would return meat and dairy products to France, which could cause an immediate $27.9 million loss in export business, according to Claude Thieblemont of the French Federation of Meat Industries and Commerce.
    "Our clients have told us they will refuse our products," he said. "There is such a panic among consumers that everyone is really frightened."
    In the Netherlands, which has more pigs and cows than people, the restrictions brought the billion-dollar livestock export business to a standstill. The Product Board for Livestock, Meat and Eggs said the Netherlands will be among the hardest-hit countries in Europe.
    The U.N. food agency said no country is safe from foot-and-mouth disease because of increased international trade, tourism and the movement of animals and animal products.
    "Our society is based on freedom of movement and it is extremely difficult to control all and every risky passenger or immigrant or traveler or truck," said Yves Chaneau, head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization's veterinary health department.
    On Tuesday, hours after French officials confirmed the outbreak, the United States and Canada banned imports of livestock, fresh meat and dairy products from the EU. The EU called the bans excessive, since in Europe, foot-and-mouth disease was still limited to Britain and France. A case was also confirmed in Argentina.
    French Agriculture Minister Jean Glavany said in an interview published Wednesday that France is "very exposed" to the risk of more foot-and-mouth cases because of the 20,000 British sheep it imported in February -- animals that were scattered in 80 farms around the country.
    The highly contagious disease, although not a danger to humans, is ravaging herds in Britain, where at least 231 separate outbreaks have been discovered since last month. France's Feb. 29 decision to destroy British sheep, along with 30,000 French sheep, failed to keep the disease at bay.
    Foot-and-mouth disease strikes cloven-hoofed animals such as sheep, pigs and cows, either killing the animals or reducing their production of milk and meat. It is easily transmitted by the wind, people or cars, or spread by contaminated hay, water and manure.
    For now, the key method of containing the disease is the mass slaughter of animals with suspected infections, a move that will likely result in higher prices for meat. France would consider, as a last resort, vaccinating livestock against the disease, Glavany told Le Parisien newspaper.
    EU veterinary experts have resisted calls for a vaccination campaign they said could have hindered tracking of the disease, because vaccinated animals carry the same antibodies as those infected.
    Foot-and-mouth disease was diagnosed Tuesday in cows on a farm in the Mayenne region of northwestern France, next door to a farm that had British sheep in its herd.
    French authorities said Wednesday they suspected two cows in the Haute Vienne region of central France had the disease and that test results would be available Thursday.
    In Britain, meanwhile, farmers and rural leaders urged the government to postpone local elections scheduled for May 3. Prime Minister Tony Blair had been expected to call a general election for the same day.
    European farmers have already been hard-hit by fears over mad cow disease, which is believed to be linked to a fatal brain wasting disease in humans. Since October, beef prices in Europe have fallen by about 27 percent.

Russian Parliament Passes Anthem

AP Online Wednesday, March 07, 2001 12:26:00 PM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
By JUDITH INGRAM
Associated Press Writer

    MOSCOW (AP) -- A decade after Boris Yeltsin threw out the Soviet anthem, lawmakers ushered it back in Wednesday with lyrics cleansed of communist-era associations and a dose of religion: a homeland "protected by God."
    The lopsided vote in the lower house of parliament -- 345 in favor of the new lyrics and 19 against with one abstention -- was one of the final steps necessary to bring back the Soviet-era anthem, this time as Russia's national hymn.
    Lawmakers restored the old melody in December.
    The lyrics were expected to win quick approval by the upper house and by President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin led the campaign first to bring back the Soviet-era melody and to add lyrics written by Sergei Mikhalkov, the poet who co-wrote previous versions paying homage to communist leaders.
    The new words glorifying Russia's might reflect the patriotic mood that Putin has sought to strengthen, and the reference to God underlined that the Soviet-era atheist ideology has been replaced by a new official reverence for religion:
    "From the southern seas to the Arctic Circle,
    Stretch our forests and fields,
    You're unique in the world, you're unique --
    Native land protected by God!"
    The anthem's refrain is reminiscent of its predecessor, saluting the "free fatherland" and the nation's "age-old union of fraternal peoples."
    The vote in the State Duma lower house paved the way for Russians to be able to sing their anthem for the first time in 10 years.
    Following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, then-President Yeltsin introduced a new anthem, its music composed by 19th-century composer Mikhail Glinka. But no lyrics were ever written, and many Russians complained that the complex melody was hard to remember.
    Russia's communists repeatedly tried to resurrect the Soviet anthem, but Yeltsin blocked the attempts. However, Putin has been more amenable to restoring Soviet-era symbols -- though he's also adopted czarist-era symbols.
    The move to restore the lyrics was welcomed by many Russians, who felt that the nation had been too hasty in trying to cut ties with the Soviet past. Others fiercely protested, arguing the melody would forever carry associations with Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin and dictator Josef Stalin.
    Mikhalkov had amended the original version to remove mention of Stalin after the dictator fell from grace.

Latvian Waffen SS veterans meet but skip controversial march

AP WorldStream Friday, March 16, 2001 8:48:00 AM
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press
By NICK COLEMAN

    RIGA, Latvia (AP) -- Several hundred veterans of the Latvian Waffen SS honored their fallen comrades Friday in a ceremony at a Riga church, but they did not stage a controversial march that in previous years has angered Moscow and Jewish groups.
    The former soldiers, most in their 70s and 80s, said they were not holding their annual meeting to make a political statement but to remember some 50,000 fellow soldiers who died in battle during World War II.
    The veterans, some in wheelchairs, others carrying flowers or canes, gathered at the Dome Cathedral to sing and pray before dispersing, then reconvened at a Riga war cemetery, where some Waffen SS soldiers and veterans are buried.
    "People can see that these people are Christians and not Nazis," said Juris Sinka of the right-wing Fatherland and Freedom, one of a handful of parliamentarians attending the church service.
    The annual march to an independence monument near the cathedral was canceled because the obelisk is under renovation and covered in scaffolding, veterans groups said. But they said they would march next year after work on the monument is completed.
    "I'm very disappointed," veteran Janis Lama said as he pulled back an overcoat to show several German Iron Cross medals he received during the war. "We'll be back next year though."
    Many Latvians say the Latvian Waffen SS, also known as the Latvian Legion, was a conscripted, front-line army and wasn't the same thing as Germany's SS -- Adolf Hitler's elite force that carried out the Holocaust and other atrocities.
    Russia blasted the procession last year, saying it showed contempt for Soviet war dead, while Latvia's 11,000-member Jewish community said it was an affront to the memory of 80,000 Latvian Jews killed during the 1941-44 Nazi occupation.
    But many Latvians accept veteran claims that they were patriots fighting for Latvian independence against Soviet invasion, or that they were forced into fighting for the Waffen SS against their will.
    In a statement earlier this week, veterans groups decried what they said were historical misunderstandings and called for a nationwide debate about the Latvian Waffen SS.
    The government has distanced itself from the commemorative events, and lawmakers last year withdrew earlier recognition of March 16 as an official day of remembrance.
    The Soviets occupied Latvia at the start of the war in 1940, Germany ruled from 1941-44, and the Soviets retook it in 1944. Latvia regained its independence in 1991 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
    With Latvia sandwiched between the Nazi and Soviet armies, 250,000 Latvians ended up fighting on one side of the conflict or the other, usually after being conscripted. Some 150,000 Latvian combatants died.

This week's picture is a look up "Daugavas gate", that's "gahhteh" -- that's alley, not a fence gate! To the left is the corner tower of the presidential palace, in need of a bit of patching.