Vējonis attended an ecumenical church service at Riga Dome Cathedral in remembrance of the victims of the second world war and laid flowers at Riga's main military cemetery.
"In remembrance of the victims of the Second World War, we bow our heads, and honor all fallen soldiers with dignity. We pay tribute to those innocent victims whose lives were stopped whether in childhood, youth or adulthood," the President said at the church service.
Šodien godinām Otrā pasaules kara upuru piemiņu, - @Vejonis, https://t.co/Q9sK6jYGmU pic.twitter.com/wWZm7IFhRa
— Valsts prezidents (@Rigas_pils) May 8, 2017
May 8 is marked as Victory in Europe or VE day by the Western Allies.
The Victory Day of the Soviet Union will be marked by thousands of people, mainly from Latvia's Russian community, on May 9 at another event in the shadow of a huge Soviet memorial in Riga.
The May 9 is not welcomed by many Latvians who argue that far from being a victory, the end of the war in 1945 only marked the beginning of another further decades of Soviet occupation.
