Russia calls on EU and NATO to condemn Latvian neo-Nazis

The chairman of the Duma committee for the CIS countries and the relations with compatriots Andrei Kokoshin has called on the European Union and NATO to take "strongest measures" against the latest outbursts of neo-Nazism in Latvia.

Ella Pamfilova, chairwoman of the President's council for the development of civil society and human rights, shares Mr. Kokoshin's sentiments on the issue: "Things that are happening in the Baltic states are sheer barbarity smacking of the Middle Ages. I am amazed by the lack of reaction from the EU. Those states wanted to join the EU so much and they are part of it now."

Vladimir Lukin, Russia’s ombudsman, says: "I do not like the nasty game out there. Dispersing the anti-Nazi rally was the ugliest part of that nasty game."

The Israeli public was outraged by the events in Riga. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiezenthal International Anti-fascist Center says: "I believe this is a real scandal. While the Latvian Education Minister is taking part in an inaugural ceremony at the Holocaust museum, the Nazis go rallying on the streets of Riga. The people had better realize that this is a major problem and it should be addressed."