Vilnius Municipality has started removing the statues of Soviet World War Two soldiers from Antakalnis Cemetery, Mayor Remigijus Šimašius said on Wednesday, adding that the work may take up to three weeks to complete.
“The Antakalnis cemetery stelae will not collapse as expressively as Riga’s largest Soviet monument did recently,” the mayor told BNS. “As planned, the statues will be taken down in an orderly manner, in separate segments, which may take up to three weeks.”
“It is regrettable that the work had to be delayed because of the United Nations Human Rights Committee’s decision, but the day has dawned,” he added.
Municipal officials said earlier that the sculptures might be removed this week.
The Justice Ministry said last week that the United Nations Human Rights Committee had left in place its interim measures, thus formally barring Vilnius authorities from removing the statues for the time being.
The committee imposed the interim measures after it received a petition signed by several people who identified themselves as “ethnic Russians”. The petitioners include Kazimieras Juraitis, who made a controversial trip Minsk earlier this year to meet with Belarusian authorities, Dmitrij Glazkov, Tatiana Brandt, and Anastasija Brandt.
The statues are being removed despite the decision of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The Interior Ministry and municipal officials insist that the UN committee was misled by the arguments of the petitioners who claim that the monument will be desecrated and the nearby remains reburied.
The municipality plans to transfer the sculptures to the National Museum of Lithuania after they are removed.
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