Latvian minister quits over Jewish property debate
Gaidis Berzins, right-wing National Alliance member resigns over pre-WWII Jewish property dispute with Latvian PM ; refuses to help Latvian Jews reclaim property
Latvia's justice minister has resigned over differences with the nation's prime minister involving the restitution of pre-war Jewish property.
Gaidis Berzins is a member of the right-wing National Alliance, and has opposed giving preference in property restitution issues to any one ethnic or religious group.
But Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis has been pressuring Berzins to approve laws needed to help Jewish organizations and individuals reclaim their property or be compensated if it was not possible.
Nearly 80,000 Jews, or 90% of Latvia's pre-World War II Jewish population, were killed in 1941-42. The country's Jewish organizations claim to have hundreds of properties listed for possible restitution.
Berzins' resignation, accepted Thursday by the prime minister, is not expected to lead to a collapse of Latvia's center-right coalition.
