Out in the Cold

The rather generous statement by Latvia's president Vaira Vike-Freiberga has met with a cold and negative response from the Kremlin, which accuses her of "trying to distort the history of the Second World War." The omens for May 9 do not look good.

From a LETA-ELTA report of January 17, quoting remarks by Viktor Kalyuzhny, Russian Ambassador to Latvia:

According to Kalyuzhny, the Soviet Union did not occupy Latvia. "I can say once again that, regarding the 1941-1945 period, yes, part of Europe and the Soviet Union were occupied. But as for the period 1945 to 1991, I believe that "occupation" is not the right term, it should be called something else," emphasizes the ambassador.