Russia protests over unsuitable site for Lollapalooza Berlin

The ambassadors to Germany from 10 former Soviet states have written to the mayor of Berlin asking that Lollapalooza Berlin not be allowed to go ahead in the city’s Treptower Park this September. In the letter, seen by the Berliner Kurier, diplomats from Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and seven former members of the USSR claim that holding the festival in the 100,000sqm park – which is also home to a war memorial commemorating 5,000 of the 80,000 soldiers of the Soviet empire who died in the Battle of Berlin in 1945 – is “inappropriate, unacceptable and disturbing for the honour and memory of the deceased”. Regional mayor Oliver Igel, Berlin mayor Michael Müller and senator of the interior Frank Henkel, say the memorial is far enough away that it will be secure from festival goers.