According to the bill, only those Latvian citizens who were as of June 17 of the year 1940 and who fought in regular units against the USSR and Nazi Germany from that day to September 1 of September 1945 can become participants of the war in Latvia.

This means that non-citizens, as well as all Latvians who fought with the Nazi invaders in the underground, in partisan units, would not be recognized as participants of the war in Latvia. That is, if two fighters, for example, in 1944, were sitting in the same trench, while today one of them is a non-citizen, he will not be recognized as a participant in the war in Latvia. Even the fighter who passed naturalization will not be recognized as a participant in the war.
- explains the publication BaltNews.Those who still will be officially recognized as a participant in the war will be given a certificate and a badge. Former members of the Nazi Party, the Gestapo, as well as former KGB officers and soldiers of the Soviet bases who appeared in Latvia in accordance with the Soviet-Latvian mutual aid pact of October 5 from 1939 cannot count on status.
From the state of material support to veterans is not allowed. Veterans will still have to document their compliance with the criteria. It is characteristic that the presence of the Russian status of a veteran of the Great Patriotic War is not in itself a basis for recognition as a participant in the Second World War in Latvia.
The law will come into force on February 1 of 2018.