ESTONIA: Russian speaking Estonians protest against possible removal of Soviet monument, say Russians are second class citizens

Record ID: 240896

  • Title: ESTONIA: Russian speaking Estonians protest against possible removal of Soviet monument, say Russians are second class citizens
  • Date: 11th November 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE ON THE BILLS ON THE PROTECTIONS OF WAR GRAVES AND REMOVAL OF FORBIDDEN STRUCTURES
  • Embargoed: 26th November 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Estonia
  • Country: Estonia
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1XQXKJ9SNG1VX5ABL50CWWTGH
  • Story Text: A small group of Russian-speaking people gathered outside the Estonian parliament on Thursday (November 09), to protest parliamentary bills which could lead to the dismantling of a Soviet monument. The group believes the bill is just one example of what it says is the government's discrimination against them.
    Inside the building, the parliament was debating bills on the protection of war graves and the removal of forbidden structures. The bills would provide the legal basis to dismantle the controversial Bronze Soldier monument to Soviet military forces, which sits in Tonismagi Square in the centre of Tallinn.
    The bodies of several Red Army soldiers have been buried at Tonismagi, at a site that now serves as a trolleybus stop. It is intended that along with the removal of the monument, the soldiers' remains will be reburied in a cemetery.
    Russia has long claimed that ethnic Russians, who make up more than 25 percent of the populations of Estonia, are subject to unfair treatment.
    Members of the Russian minority, many of whom are technically stateless citizens, say they are not represented politically or economically. Organiser of Thursday's rally, Dimitri Klenski, says that as an example, the average salary of a Russian worker is two thirds of that of an Estonian.
    "If in Estonia and also in Europe they find that a woman is being paid less than a man, it is a problem. Here in Estonia, women are being paid 2/3 of the salary paid to men, and this is a problem. All kinds of colloquiums, symposiums are held regarding this topic. But if the national minority is earning less because they are at a lower position on the social-economic ladder in society, the discrimination is obvious. And this is not any long term result, it's the result of the politics of last 15 years of Estonian independence," Klenski said.
    The protesters say the so-called 'Monument Bills' are an example of neo-Nazi acts against Russians.
    "If all the social-economic indicators are lower than Estonians have, then how else you can understand it?" Klenski said.
    "This is a new form of neo-Nazism! We don't have to imagine nazism as crazy Hitler with a moustache. Today it can be done dressed with neck-ties even with a bow-tie. It can be done nicely with white gloves; elegantly, holding a cigar and drinking Swiss coffee," he added.
    The protesters carried several Russian and Estonian language placards, like "Leave the monument in peace", "Parliamentarian, stand for your people, not for your party", "Don't force the hostility!".
    But in a country where aptitude in Estonian is a requirement for citizenship, some of the protesters needed help when asked the meaning of the words on their placards.
    "In Russian it would be: Parliament, stand for people not for ... erakond - what does this mean? The party!" said one man when asked to translate his Estonian sign.
    The Estonian minister of foreign affairs Urmas Paet denies any kind of neo-Nazi acts in Estonia.
    "There are actually no examples, no real examples of neo-Nazism, so that what we sometimes learn from some Russian politicians, is empty rhetorics, and there are no facts concerning problems of neo-Nazism here in Estonia," he said.
    Paet added that any decisions relating to the moving of the monument were separate to the debate raised by the Russian minority.
    "Every city government has the position, and has the right to decide where different monuments should be. And here is nothing to do with issues concerning Neo -nazism or attitudes," he said.
    The monument itself is no stranger to controversy. Every year Russian citizens celebrate Soviet Victory Day on May 9th and the reoccupation of Tallinn by the Red Army on September 22, 1944 by laying tributes and wreaths at the foot of the statue. Soviet veterans gather at the monument, but in recent years critics say the gatherings have become more political with overt Soviet symbolism displayed and the illegal consumption of alcohol.
    Estonian nationalists say the monument, erected in 1947 as a tribute to Red Army troops, is offensive to the memory of those who suffered, were deported or died during Soviet occupation.
    During May in 2006, the monument was home to several protests, with scuffles breaking out. The monument was vandalized, and at one stage closed off from the public and guarded by police.
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