Latvian apology causes uproar

MOSCOW, Jan. 28 (JTA) — The Latvian Parliament has called on the Baltic nation’s president to appear before them and explain remarks he made during a trip to the United States earlier this month. Latvian legislators made the request after receiving a copy of President Guntis Ulmanis’ speech to the Anti- Defamation League, in which he apologized for Latvian participation in the genocide of Jews during the Nazi occupation of the country from 1941 to 1944. Ulmanis, who was in the United States to attend a U.S.-Baltic summit in Washington, was in New York to accept the Distinguished Statesman Award from the ADL. Ulmanis told reporters upon his return from the United States that in his speech he was only referring to individuals — and not to the country as a whole. The Latvian leader is slated to pay his first visit to Israel at the end of next month.