In Parliament, the right and the left have rushed forward to push through amendments to legislation that would add to the list of banned symbols of communism and Nazism.
It is proposed to add not only the so-called Georgian tape, which has become one of the symbols of Russian imperialism and chauvinism but also the letters Z and V, which are used to mark the Russian armoured columns that are devastating Ukraine and which are used by supporters of Kremlin policy.
But our active patriots seem to turn a blind eye to other things.
For example, in the very centre of Palanga, in the square in front of the church, there is still a Soviet-era obelisk for the 'liberators' buried there, decorated with sledgehammers, sickles, stars and other symbols of the Soviet army. And just a few dozen metres away is a memorial to the post-war partisan leader J. Žemaičius-Vytautas, as if to emphasise the irony of fate.
The conservatives who run the resort are pointing their fingers at the Department of Cultural Heritage and other state institutions, which have declared the obelisk and the fence around it to be a protected heritage. Therefore, it is not allowed to remove this Soviet symbol and replace it with plaques for those who are buried there or move them to the cemetery. It seems that this 'heritage' is even more precious than the former sculptures on the capital's Green Bridge.
At the same time, the state authorities explained that they could remove the protection of this „heritage“ but that they would have to receive an appeal from the local authorities. And they are not getting it from Palanga or from other municipalities that still have similar Soviet relics.
This problem is bigger than just governmental neglect, evidenced by the ongoing struggle in Šilutė over the Soviet-era name of Komunarų Street, for example. Many local communities desperately oppose the name change because they are against "Russophobia".
In a word, crossing out the letter Z does not remove all ambiguities – on the contrary, it may even accentuate them.
