Latvians call for Putin’s Scottish hero to be toppled
Latvian politicians claim that Michael Barclay de Tolly “symbolises Russian imperialism”
ALAMY
He is the “Scot” who drove Napoleon out of Russia, a tsarist field marshal whose roots lay in Aberdeenshire but who has come to symbolise President Putin’s modern imperialism.
Michael Barclay de Tolly is at the centre of a battle over his legacy in Latvia, where some politicians want to topple a statue to the Napoleonic War hero in the heart of their capital, Riga.
Barclay de Tolly’s monument is next to the city’s recently renovated Russian Orthodox cathedral. The old empire warrior has a view, the locals joke, right in to the cabinet rooms of the modern government.
Efforts to get rid of his statue are being led by a bloc of Riga city councillors called Kods Rigai.
They say they recognise the military
