Latvia's Controversial Legionnaire Day Celebrations Scaled Back Amid COVID-19 Outbreak

Faizan Hashmi Published March 16, 2020 | 07:35 PM

Only a handful of people in the Latvian capital defied the state of national emergency over the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to lay flowers at the memorial of Latvian Waffen SS members on Legionnaire Day on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th March, 2020) Only a handful of people in the Latvian capital defied the state of national emergency over the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak to lay flowers at the memorial of Latvian Waffen SS members on Legionnaire Day on Monday.

The Remembrance Day of the Latvian Legionnaires is held annually on March 16 to honor those who fought alongside Nazi Germany in World War Two. The celebration has been criticized by Russia and other war-hit countries as an attempt to glorify Nazism.

Sputnik Latvia reported that the traditional march in Riga was canceled, as the virus outbreak is continuing to spread across Europe.

The people who attended the legionnaire memorial, where the procession was to end, were outnumbered by police and journalists.

Latvia's Antifa movement made a brief appearance at the memorial but left when it became clear that there would be no competing rally. The demographic policy adviser to the Baltic nation's prime minister was the highest-ranking official to pay tribute to the legionnaires.