In a poll organized by the Rēzekne municipality on renaming "Russian-friendly" street names, the majority - 1016 out of 1120 respondents - were against. The choice was mainly based on costs rather than political views.
Alla, resident of Maskavas (Moscow) Street: "Registration of residence, registration of inheritance - all this will come out of our wallet. If it were to change documents, passports, registrations at the expense of the state, then [let it be] even Onion Street, even Potato Street."
Rēzekne resident Jāzeps: "What is the fault of Maskavas Street? It was built in Soviet times. Kosmonautu (Astronaut) Street... let it stay. Is there no need for that money elsewhere?"
The municipality believes that the names of Rēzekne's streets can only be decided by Rēzekne residents themselves, in particular by the residents of the streets in question, so no decision on the change is being made at the moment.
The change of street names was initiated by the Public Memory Center. Now the issue has raised even more concern, because now the name of Rēzekne, with the opinion of its citizens expressed in surveys, has been heard on well-known platforms in Russia - the Putin-founded Russkiy Mir Foundation and the Russian secret service website Sputnik.
The Public Memory Center has also appealed to the Rēzekne municipality to demolish the Jānis Zvīdra monument. The appeal was made already in October, but the municipality has still not responded.
