Support The Moscow Times!

Soviet 'Occupation' Caused $210 Bln Damage to Latvian Economy - Report

An elderly man walks past a memorial wall with names of fallen Latvian Waffen SS legion soldiers in Lestene, 80 kilometers west from capital Riga, Latvia.

The damage inflicted on Latvia’s economy by what the country considers a Soviet occupation from 1940 to 1990 has been estimated at 185 billion euros ($209 billion) by a Latvian research committee, Latvian news website DELFI reported on Monday.

Committee spokesperson Ruta Pazdere said that the damage done to the country’s demography and its environment during the same period had been estimated in the tens of billions.

Pazdere announced the figures at the launch of a number of new books on the history of the Soviet occupation of the Baltics, the Latvian Leta news agency reported.

Speaking at the launch, Latvian MEP Inese Vaidere stressed the need to work on a joint understanding of history.

“Without research into the past, there is a risk that we will repeat the same mistakes,” she said to DELFI.

The lawmaker also noted “identically criminal” similarities between Nazi and Soviet regimes, according to DELFI.

The special committee, created eleven years ago, focuses on 40 areas of research, including the damage incurred under Soviet occupation. As well as focusing on Latvia’s economy, they consider human loss — by calculating the number of people who were deported to Russia or fled to the West — and the occupation’s influence on Latvian culture, religion and countryside.

… we have a small favor to ask.

As you may have heard, The Moscow Times, an independent news source for over 30 years, has been unjustly branded as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government. This blatant attempt to silence our voice is a direct assault on the integrity of journalism and the values we hold dear.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. Our commitment to providing accurate and unbiased reporting on Russia remains unshaken. But we need your help to continue our critical mission.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just 2. It's quick to set up, and you can be confident that you're making a significant impact every month by supporting open, independent journalism. Thank you.

Continue

Read more