[10][11][12] The bomb, which was supposedly planted by fascist extremists, was reportedly placed on the front steps of the synagogue building.
The bomb caused extensive damage, including tearing out the 90 kg oak door, destroying all the windows and casings of the basement and first and second floors, and leaving deep gouges in the wall.
The attack was linked with a rise in nationalist and extremist actions that seriously unsettled relations among Latvians, Jews and Russians.
The Russian Foreign Ministry controversially blamed the bombing outside its Riga embassy on "anti-Russian hysteria recently produced in Latvia and the encouragement of nationalism and extremism" and called for drastic measures to punish those who were guilty.
A few days after the Riga bombings, a monument to Latvian victims of the Holocaust was defaced in the port town of Liepāja.
March 6: Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin openly criticises Guntars Krasts and states, "The news of what happened there sent shivers down Russia's spine."
March 16: In Riga, over 500 veterans of the Latvian Legion walk in commemoration through the center of the capital, prompting bitter condemnations from Moscow.
The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted causing yet more controversy, saying: "This attention to fascist underlings is shameful for Europe."
April 4: President of Latvia Guntis Ulmanis expresses concern that bad press has damaged the country's prospects of joining the EU.