East
Europeans Canadians Protest Russian Expansionism
Ottawa
(April 12, 1997) Over 150 demonstrators, including three bus loads from
Toronto, protested outside the Russian Embassy in Ottawa. The predominantly
Ukrainian-Canadian group were demanding that Russia respect the present
borders of the Ukraine and Crimea.
Russian expansionists have repeatedly claimed the Crimea and Sevastopol,
the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting during the Crimean War, and
wanted these areas incorporated into Russia.
A number of protesters of Latvian origin were asking for the return
of Abrene, a district of Eastern Latvia seized and retained by the former
Soviet occupiers. According to the 1920 peace agreement between Soviet
Russia and the newly independent Latvia, Abrene was recognized as part
of Latvia. The new Russian regime has refused to abide by this agreement.
Ottawa's
establishment media greeted the demonstration with a big yawn and ignored
it, a reaction consistent with the persistent hostility of the Canadian
media to the Eastern European nationalist concerns. The media seems more
comfortable whooping up hatred against ancient East Europeans and defaming
them as war criminals.