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Holodomor Posters
Weekly News Update
Wash D.C., Fri, March 20, 2015
Dear Friend,
On Monday, the annual march commemorating Latvia's Waffen SS veterans whofought alongside the Nazis during World War II took place in Riga. NCSEJ hasregularly monitored the Waffen SS marches, and repeatedly urged the Latvianauthorities not to participate. This year, members of the Latvian governmentdid not take part in the march.
Last week, Israel opened its first embassy in Vilnius, Lithuania. Thisdevelopment is of major symbolic significance for Israeli-Lithuanian relationsand to Lithuania's Jewish community, which before WWII numbered close to250,000 but was largely exterminated by the Nazis.
March 18 marked the one-year anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea.Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed thousands of people who gathered inMoscow to celebrate the takeover, and called Crimea the source of Russia's"historical origins" and its "spirituality and statehood."Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the annexation of Crimea is"an assault on international law" and urged the internationalcommunity to maintain pressure on Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine, and torespect the rights of Ukrainians and ethnic minorities in the peninsula. Theupdate includes several articles that detail the situation in Crimea since theannexation.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian parliament approved amendments to the law on thespecial status of rebel-controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.These new laws postpone greater autonomy for the regions until they hold newelections in line with Ukrainian law and under international observation.Pro-Russian separatist leaders and the Russian government sharply criticizedthe move, and the separatist rebels threatened to abandon the ceasefireagreement.
During this week's summit in Brussels, EU leaders agreed to keep sanctionsagainst Russia in place, linking them with the "completeimplementation" of a ceasefire deal. The Kremlin criticized the decisionand accused the Ukrainian government of violating the terms of the ceasefireagreement.
