The Russian state can be ignored, but not the Russian culture

The Russian army invaded Ukraine on February 24 without any sensible motivation and continues to do terrible things there - kill, rape, loot, destroy infrastructure. And lie - lie all the time.

That is why there is disgust, an allergic reaction not only to the war criminal Putin and his power vertical, but also to the Russian language, culture and people, the majority of whom still support the “special military operation”.

In Latvia, the aversion to the Russian is manifested in the decision to demolish the monument to the occupiers in Pārdaugava, the "zero tolerance" towards supporters of Russian aggression, the anger on social networks against well-known opinion-makers who either support Putin or do not express a clear opinion on the war in Ukraine. Then there are the PR events to "Un-Russianize Latvia!"

At this time, the Amsterdam museum is also refusing to cooperate with the Russian Hermitage Museum, even though there is no Russian imperialism in Kazimir Malevich's "Black Square".

The problems that a Berlin restaurant called Pasternak is having are absurd. Berliners have been whipping up a storm of hate speech on social networks with calls not to go to this restaurant because it is Russian. However, it has not been taken into account that the owners of this restaurant have long emigrated from Russia, that Boris Pasternak was a great poet of Jewish origin who was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958. That Pasternak is in no way connected with what is happening in Ukraine at the moment.

I guess not everything Russian should be "cancellable" after all. You need to know a little bit about Russians, and what the story is really about. You need a bit of sorting out who is who.

There is Boris Grebenshchikov, Andrey Makarevich, Maksim Pokrovsky, Maxim Galkin and many others who openly hate the Putin regime. Naturally, Latvians need not turn away from their music and they are welcome here. Similarly, journalists, actors and businessmen who emigrated from Russia now live here in Latvia. Latvia should lend a supportive hand.

We do not know what those Russian artists who have already died would say about Russia's attack on Ukraine. Joanna Stingray, the “godmother” of Russian rock music who brought it into the US showbiz market, recently told me in an interview that it is impossible to know what Viktor Tsoi would think now - it is impossible to ask a dead man.

She was not particularly happy, however, that a song by Tsoi ("Kukushka"), performed by Polina Gagarina, was used at a pro-Russian aggression event at the Luzhniki Stadium.

We should not condemn and express strong opinions about people who cannot answer back. We also cannot know about other people who may have circumstances where they cannot say anything. Maybe Tsoi's father has no money to buy food, and that’s why he says that Viktor would have supported the “special operation”.

We Latvians are smart, aren't we? We are not going to burn books, as the Hitlerites did in the 1930s? We are not going to carry out a "cultural revolution" like in China? We are a cultured and civilized nation, which values democracy and the rule of law. It is barbaric to burn books, literally or figuratively. Should we run to rename Pushkin Street or Lermontov Street?

Well, maybe some streets in Riga are named after people who do not deserve such honor, but to sweep away everything Russian is hardly smart. Renaming streets also costs a lot. Perhaps we should save the money that would have been spent on renaming streets and redirect it to the children of Ukrainian refugees?

There has been a lot of good in Russian culture - for example, crayfish, which are small for three rubles, but bigger for five rubles; Venychka, who has never seen the Kremlin; Shurik, who says to Fedya: "It has to be done, Fedya!"; Cheburashka's birthday; the hare from “Nu Pogodi”; Mayakovsky's stars, which somebody must need if they're lit; Vysotsky's restless gypsy horses, Okudzhava's grape seed. This part of culture hardly promotes Bolshevism and imperialism.

It is not that all Russian culture is now to be excluded - there is much in Russian culture that calls for compassion, understanding and love. Unfortunately, all the good that the greatest Russian artists have called for has been ignored, erased and destroyed. Or twisted in their own way - for propaganda purposes. Unfortunately, until February 24, Latvian television channels were showing stupid Russian thrillers, which can really contribute to brainwashing. How we allowed this to happen is now beyond comprehension. There were probably legal problems.

The fact that Russian propaganda has gained the upper hand in the minds of a large part of the Latvian population is largely a problem of Latvian media policy. Until recently, the Latvian media space was filled with TV shows whose main message was imperial or in which criminal elements and military knuckleheads were portrayed as heroes. Now that is over. As can be seen, the media watchdog has had legal problems in stopping this, but now it is over.

There are also legal problems, as can be understood, with the "cancellation" of the Latvian Russian Union (Latvijas Krievu savienība) political party project. Until this party really asks for it and comes into conflict with the law, nothing can be done.

The fact that there tend to be legal problems is actually a very good thing. Latvia, with a few exceptions, is still adhering to the principles of the rule of law. The worst thing that can happen is that these principles are violated. If Latvia does not hold on to these principles, then it might follow along with Russia.

Whatever happens, Latvia's law enforcement and intelligence structures should stick to the principle that Latvia is a democratic country. That all kinds of opinions are possible here - including those that do not conform to the prevailing trends. The only way to take action against someone who expresses an unpleasant opinion is if he calls for actions contrary to the Criminal Law. If the law is broken, there is one result. If it is not broken, it is another.