As Tallinn seems to have entered the second night of rioting over the removal of a Soviet war memorial, here's a blogger's recap (with photos, RUS, by LJ user mrprophet) of what happened the previous night:
A Russian rebellion
Today I've been to a true Russian rebellion, senseless and relentless.
For those not following the events: Estonian government has decided to begin excavations at the burial site of the Soviet soldiers and the Warrior-Liberator monument at [Tonismagi] Hill in downtown Tallinn today. In the afternoon, the police fenced off the monument and surrounding areas and covered the monument with a non-transparent cloth. Something like this has long been expected, so around 5 pm a predominantly Russian crowd started gathering near the National Library, located right by the monument.
I learned about it around 6 pm, when one of my friends called me. When I arrived at [Tonismagi], 2 to 3 thousand people were already there, chanting “Shame!” and “Fascists!”. The crowd was slowly but consistently growing, though the demonstration was extremely unorganized, due to the spontaneity of it all. Most people came to the square after learning about what was taking place from friends, over the phone, on the internet or in forums. Most people were young, but in general the crowd was pretty diverse.
In the meantime, the police cordoned off the whole square with a circle of OMON [riot police]. Nothing was happening for a long time. There were no speeches, people just stood and yelled slogans in defense of the monument to the fallen in the Great Patriotic War. The police and OMON acted calm. I witnessed only a couple of fights, when someone either threw himself on the cordon or something like that. They were using tear gas in response, but it didn't lead to mass aggression. At around 8 pm, the protesters spontaneously blocked [one of the streets adjacent to the square], and in response the police demanded that everyone disperse.
A helicopter was hovering above the crowd, some extra cordon fences were delivered, a water cannon arrived. From the crowd flew bottles, eggs, insults. The police didn't really react to that. No incidents happened while I was there - people, instead, were trying to stand there in an organized manner and to prevent provokers from throwing bottles into the first rows of the crowd. The first rows were comprised of all kinds of folks, from schoolkids to elderly people.
The truly tough stuff started happening around 9 pm. The police must've gotten tired of yelling into their megaphones for the rally to disperse, and OMON moved forward on the protesters. We were being pushed from the crossing near the library quite crudely. They were beating [us] with [rubber] sticks, and washing [us] lavishly with tear gas. Here's when the decisive moment came. The crowd got wild and the real Paris Commune began. The crowd was retreating, but all kinds of things were flying from it toward the police: stones that were ripped from the pavement, garbage containers, street poles. Everybody was yelling, “Fascists!” and “Russia!”
Here was when I decided that my life was more valuable than the lively photography, and so I moved away from the front rows. In front of me, OMON was fighting the retreating crowd. By that time, everyone had already been pushed from the square in front of the monument and OMON had begun using rubber bullets. The crowd ran, then stopped, shattering everything in its way. Ironically, at [Tonismagi] Street, where it was all taking place, there's the HQ of the ruling Reform Party, whose leader is Estonia's prime minister and whose initiative it was to start excavations at the Warrior-Liberator monument.
Finally, the people reached the turn to Parnu Highway (there's a small square there) and blocked the traffic completely. There were no police in this area at all, and so the crowd was overwhelmed by the real thugs. The protesters gone mad blocked all the paths with barricades made of sidewalk fences that they tore out, they started breaking windows, lighting fires and breaking into shops and kiosks. They nearly set on fire one of the houses near the highway, but the cooler heads, fortunately, extinguished the fire soon.
I stood behind this chaos a bit longer and went home. Police sirens became audible to me only when I was already far away from the place where it was all taking place. The police turned out to be absolutely unprepared to what took place after OMON began to push the crowd out. Pogroms went on for 20 more minutes before I left the square, and I'm not sure they've stopped already. The unrest continues.
[photos]
The conclusions offer no consolation, of course. The police started dispersing the demonstration in a rather harsh way for no reason (whether it was needed or not isn't for me to decide), and the demonstration didn't want to be dispersed, so it responded even more harshly. Those who stood around me weren't thugs, but they were ready to fight till the end and to respond to every blow of the law enforcement forces with a blow twice as strong. The police were absolutely not ready to what happened as a result, when chaos prevailed.
It's crazy. The people have shown that they are capable of [fighting back] the authorities completely spontaneously, without the support of parties and movements. And it was just the first day. Can you imagine what's going to happen there on Victory Day, for which many people gather even without such reasons?
Anyway, I'm scared for my country. I'm scared because those reasonable people I saw at the beginning of the rally were beaten up during the rally's dispersal - and, very suddenly, they were replaced by the demented thugs. It all began as a spontaneous attempt to defend the monument. And it ended… the way it ended.
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A set of pogrom pictures by Flickr user neoroma is here. (Update: Unfortunately, the viewing mode for this set seems to have been set to “private” at some point, so the link no longer works.)
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A rather heated English-language discussion of the situation in Tallinn is currently taking place at Itching for Eestimaa - in the comment section to this post (131 comments so far).
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The Bear Growls:…
A clash over an Estonian effort to move a Russian military monument is described by Veronica Khokhlova at Global Voices as the suppression of a Russian minority in Estonia seeking to defend their heritage. But La Russophobe depicts it as……
To Pajamas Media, a correction: this is Veronica Khokhlova’s translation of a post by a Tallinn-based blogger, not her personal view of the events. Thanks.
There is no OMON in Estonia, OMON is russian, in Estonia we have riot police
VERONICA:
Kommersant has reported that the Kremlin filled Tallinn with Nashi youth cult members and provoked this confrontation on purpose. Sounding just like the Chechen terorists, the Nashi fanatics said they had a “surprise” in store for the Estonian government, and they sure did.
http://www.kommersant.com/p762639/Estonia,_Bronze_Soldier,_Russia,_WWII/
When the “Other Russia” marches peacefully, the crazed Russian nationalists feel they have the right to crush them. But when Nashi riots in Estonia, the government must leave them alone? Chechnya is a “domestic” problem and other nations can’t interfere, but Estonia is part of Russia and Russia may interfere?
This is the “thinking” that brought the USSR to its knees. So amazing that Russias will go right back down this road again, and so soon!
Estonia officially glorifies Estonian legioners of Hitler’s SS forces. Those Estonian SS forces, which exterminated Jews in fascist death camps in Estonia during Holocaust. At the same time Estonia practices apartheid against ethnic Russians - children of those people, who saved millions of Europeans of fascism and death, by paying with their lives in the battle with German Nazis. Yesturday, crushing a riot against apartheid and fascism, Estonian police killed the first ethnic Russian, wounded a few dozens, and arrested several hundreds of people just because of their Russian ethnicity. Those arrested are currently interned in a harbor warehouse as they were livestock. All this happend right in the middle of EU and all the Europeans and Americans applaud Estonia. I just want to remind all of you a well known German priest Nimeller’s phrase about fascists: “At first time they came for Jews.” If Europeans will keep silence today, some day the will repeat: “At first time they came for Russians”.
La Russophobe,
You write that “Kommersant has reported that the Kremlin filled Tallinn with Nashi youth cult members” and that “the Nashi fanatics said they had a ’surprise’ in store for the Estonian government.”
Here’s the actual quote from the Kommersant piece you’re linking to:
“…according to the Tallinn newspaper Postimees, activists from Russia’s Nashi movement have moved into the Meriton Grand Hotel Tallinn (69 euros a night) a few hundred meters from the monument. In addition, Dmitry Linter, one of the leaders of the “Night Watch,” has also recently promised that “surprises are in the works” for the Estonian authorities.”
Here’s more on the Night Watch - which you have confused with Nashi - from the same Kommersant piece:
“Support for the defenders of the monument does not run very high in the country, even among Estonia’s Russian-speaking population. In the last parliamentary elections, the Constitution Party, which joined politically with “Night Watch” to build its campaign around the defense of the Bronze Soldier, garnered only 1% of the vote. The majority of the Russian-speaking citizens of Estonia supported the Centrist Party of current Tallinn Mayor Edgar Savisaar. whose position on the question of the monument is fairly contradictory.”
Still, thank you for the link.
It will be intresting to see how this pans out.
M,
I do specify in the translation that OMON stands for ‘riot police’ when I first mention it - but replacing one for the other in all instances seemed like straying from the original a bit too much. Thank you.
Dear Michael - I don’t know where the hell you get your information from. I live in Tallinn and here’s my overview about the situation.
At first - to respond Veronica’s overview - this protest there was spontaneous, without every permission from authorities. It was hostile and tehrefore police decided to use force. What followed was vandalism, crime wave and shoplifting series.
The Russian citizen Michael mentioned, was stabbed by his fellow demontrator, not killed by police.
The main purpose of police forces has been to keep everything calm in last days. People have been warned to stay home and not go downtown. In riot it is hard to determin, who is rioting and who’s just curiously watching, so police have detained more than 800 people, BOTH Russians end Estonians. Mostly Russians.
For today night, it’s practically peaceful here.
Next thing - this monument itself.
It has been a place for Red Army veteran meetings in 9th of May for 15 years. It didn’t bother really Estonians, we are peaceful and tolerating nation. We understand that those old men have their own history, their friends who died at war.
In last couple of years those 9th May events have turned very provocative. People who gathers there are young. They have nothing in common with war. They wave with red Soviet Union flags and drink vodka on those graves. Their minds are set against Estonians - they have attacked physically Estonians there, they have desecrated Estonian flags.
Estonians are very calm and peaceful, but in this situation we couldn’t tolerate such provocations here in Tallinn downtown. The more radical Estonians demanded removal of this statue. Tensions got high and Russian government has done its utmost to increase the tensions and use this monument in its propaganda-war against Estonia.
And look what those protesters did now in Tallinn. They come here with intention to violence. They chant “Rossiya, rossiya”. They don’t have anything in common with this monument - it’s just an excuse to vandalize, riot and act as a victims, accusing police afterwards.
Estonians still remain peaceful. Nobody plans to demolish this monument - it’s going to be removed where it belongs to: Soldiers cemetary in Tallinn. Russian veterans can still gather there every year to remember their history.
People who know Estonian history wander - how could you stand this statue for 15 years. They know what Soviet occupation and Red Army have done in Estonia. Those crimes are equal to nazis’ crimes. There’s no difference for Estonians - Nazis or Red Army. All the same.
So, dear Michael, next time before you comment on something like that, please get at least some information about what’s really happening.
[...] Veronika posts an Estonian reporter/blogger’s account of how a protest against the removal of a Russian Monument in Estonia escalated into seriously destrucive mob-violence. [...]
Hard to say anything about the bone of contention which in this case is the Bronz Soldier. On hand there is the past with all those fallen heroes under it, another hand there is the suverenite of the indepent independent country.
With all respect to the estonian regime I would to say that there is no one who wholly is able to undertand what the men without country of their own relly means.
I cannot say exactly how large is the population that occupid the Estonian whom one could very well call as ‘men without a country’.
In genera they are called as estonia russian, majorite of them russian by origin yet estonian by born and the plain truth remain, tha they are not russian nor estonian either. They belongin in Russia as poorly as the roma belongin in Intia.
It’s very hard to ge the people who cannot feel being conected anywhere. Who are not citizen of any country or land. Then there coulld be suitable , even a obscure hint as a monumen to be joint somewhere.
I could recommend to read the book ‘The man without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut.
When Christians fight, Zionist’s jews celebrate, this whole thing is ‘made in Israel” read Douglas Reed’s “Controversy of Zion”, you’ll get it then. Behind Communism, Nazism and other “isms” is Zionism !!! Educate yourselves and stop being “goyas”
They had no right to beat people senseless for standing on the streets, not even talking about the murder of a 20 year old boy. If we were Putin - would send the troops into Talinn, as they cant even handle their own ‘independence.’
In Estonia Hitler is coming back to power…
As an American married to an Estonian and living in Estonia and unfortunately deal with a large number of Russians via business, I must say, screw all things Russian in Estonia and remove the the Russian population to their homeland. They are generally not welcome, civilized or of an independent mindset and should waste their energies on the moronic Russian government rather than create problems in a wonderful country. Furthermore, the statue in question should be shipped back to mother Russia.
Estonia, which has recently joined to EU and NATO, officially practices Apartheid policies and does its best to rehabilitate and legalize Fascism, for years. EU, US and other democracies preferred not to pay attention on that till now. However, it doesn’t cancel the fact that Estonia carries out a policy of Ethnic Discrimination against ethnic Russians, who constitute a third part of its population. Most of these people were born in this country or live here for 30-40 years, but they were not even provided citizenship and are treated as second class people. Moreover, Estonia officially glorifies legionaries of Hitler’s SS troops that exterminated Jews in Fascist death camps in Estonia during the Holocaust. Government sets up monuments to these Fascist butchers. They are allowed to march in the downtown of the capital, Tallinn. They are invited to official events; the Estonian President shakes their bloody hands, and calls them heroes of Estonia.
At the same time, Estonian government aggressively fights with any memories of millions of the Soviet soldiers, who paid with their lives to free Europe from the plague of the Fascism and to save dozens millions of Europeans of the death. And democratic countries - first of all EU and US, prefer to dissemble this again. But recently Estonian regime overstepped the limits, which makes it absolutely illegal from the point of view of common human values. On April 26, Estonian authorities have decided to finally erase the memory of the victory of Russian soldiers over the Hitler’s Nazism by destroying the main World War II memorial to a Soviet warrior-rescuer, Bronze Soldier. For those Russians who live in Estonia, demolition of the memorial is not just a removal of some architectonic construction. This is the most painful insult of the memories of their fathers and grandfathers, who died in battle with the Fascism to bring freedom to the Europe.
Thousands of offended Estonian Russians came to a peaceful protest demonstration, demanding from Estonian officials to stop the vandalism. But instead dialogue Estonian authorities sent special police forces to suppress the protest. With no reason they started to fire in the protesters rubber bullets, water cannon and tear-gas, throw flash-bang grenades, and baton women and teenagers. During the massacre the first ethnic Russian was killed, dozens were injured and hundreds were arrested just because of their Russian ethnicity. Those arrested were thrown into in a harbor warehouse as they were livestock, and there they were beat by police within an inch of their life. Just think - in the heart of the Europe an Apartheid regime kills, injures and arrests hundreds people just because of their ethnicity! However, almost all of the European and American media keep hypocritical silence or even worse call this “pacifying gangs of drung vandals”.
This is disgrace! This is shame not only on those European and US governments that support this Nazi state. This is shame on every European and American who keeps silence today. Keeps silence, because somewhere inside he or she is confident that rehabilitation of Fascism, and Apartheid crimes committed against those “dirty Russian” at the heart of the European Union, provide “useful lesson” to Russians and Russia. But maybe you think that this is not your business? Then let me remind you a famous phrase by German priest Martin Niemoller he said about Nazis in 1945: “First they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew…. Then they came for me and by that time there was no one left who can speak up for me”. Today, new European Nazis came for the Russians, and the Europeans keep silence or, better to say, silently approve. Well, you can be sure - this is just the beginning, and some day yours home-grown Nazis, inspired by your silence of the crimes of the Estonian Fascism, will come for you. And there will be no one to speak up for you. Because Russians, once rescued the Europe from the Fascism, will never pay again with millions of their lives for those not speaking up today.
Here are a couple of interesting facts regarding Estonia:
Most wanted Nazi war criminals
10b. Harry Mannil
Arrested Jews and Communists who were then executed by Nazis and Estonian collaborators
Status: Cleared by investigation in Estonia
10a. Algimantas Dailide
Arrested Jews who were then murdered by Nazis and Lithuanian collaborators
Status: Deported from US; convicted by Lithuania, which has hereto refused to implement his sentence of imprisonment
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178020745724&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Not a single Estonian citizen who participated in the persecution and/or murder of Jews during WWII has been brought to trial by the Estonians, despite the existence of abundant incriminatory evidence in at least two cases submitted in recent years.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1176152786406
A monument to an Estonian “Freedom Fighter” had been unveiled in a small town Lihula in Western Estonia. It showed a soldier in a German uniform with a Waffen-SS (combat SS) unit emblem, wearing a steel helmet and holding a machine gun.
http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/12586/
So, what should one think about this?
1. Thousands of estonians were serving in Hitler’s Waffen-SS troops where they exterminated Jews, Russians, Beloruses, Ukrainians, and other “untermenshen” in death camps.
2. No one Estonian was brought to trial for war crimes after Estonia become independent. Moreover, Estonia protects even most wanted Nazi criminals identified by Holocaust organizations.
3. Estonia glorifies its Waffen-SS “freedom fighters” by setting up monuments to them. Meanwhile, Estonia destroys memorials to Soviet soldiers, who won Hitler.
4. Estonia practice massive ethnic discrimination against Russians, Beloruses, Ukrainians today.
You don’t have to be a detective to make a judgement: Estonia is a typical Nazi state. And if there were not only one million popolation, but 100 million with enough weapon, they would already repeat the Holocaust second time.
Fact : Estonia is a free country which can decide for itself.
It has a democratic gouvernment and a free press which is - a lot- more than can be said about Russia.
Instead of reacting hysterically, the Kremlin should have considered a bit of Estonian history.
What about the tens of thousands Estonians who died through the crimes of Stalin?
What about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact?
Furthermore, it should be noted that the Estonian government showed a lot of respect for the remains of the Red Army Soldiers.
More than Russia did considering the remains of 6 war heroes in Chimki whose graves were recently carelessly destroyed by bulldozers when building a ‘new business-centre’.
Hypocrisie…. :(
Michael, your posts show your lack of information.
You don’t know practically anything about the history of Baltic states.
De facto, Baltic states were occupied by Soviet Union in 1939, then conquered and occupied by Nazi Germany. In 1944. Nazis retreated and Estonian independent government took the power, but just for few days, until Red Army returned and OCCUPIED, not liberated Estonia.
In WWII Estonian people had not much to choose. It was hard to avoid war and most of the men were enrolled to army against their will. Was it Nazis or Soviet army, didn’t really matter to them - both were equally disgusting.
Soviet army had occupied Estonia and already murdered tens thousands of Estonian people in 1940-1941 and that was the reason why many Estonian men wanted to join German army. It wasn’t ideology or Hitler - they didn’t fancy that. It was a chance to fight against soviet murderers that killed and deported their faimilies.
The crimes Soviet Army did in Baltic states were WAY MORE TERRIBLE than everything that nazis ever did in Estonia. So there’s no wonder that some Estonians chose to fight against Red Army.
The Lihula monument you mentioned was erected to those man, who did fight against occupation army. They didn’t have a possibility to choose - there was no Estonian army at this time. They didn’t want to choose any sides between soviets and nazis. But they chose that seemed less evil of two evil forces.
I totally agreee with Michel. The monument itself wasen’t the real reason to start the dispute which now is surfing back and fro.It rather seem that there have been long time desire to tear the primary knot open which is nothing but the question of the russen minority, and before all,to find the real reason to deport them by the same token as the nazi Cermany deported the jews.
Here is an excellent article I beleive many of you will find interesting and informative. Please take time to read it. http://palun.blogspot.com/
People who want to see how the russian “demonstrators” in Tallinn really looked like can take a look here, loads of photos of “innocent demonstrators brutalized by the police”: http://www.hot.ee/tiblunn/tiblad.htm
Here is a rather good video of the looters: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1mcL4bG9sk
Please notice that, unlike the videos shown on russian state TV, this video is not made of small 10sec snippets. This is the real deal, uncut.
Russia is igniting internal conflicts in neighboring Estonia
This has happened never before in Estonia, small peaceful country in Northern Europe, member of NATO and EU since 2004.
A Bronze Soldier, the statue in Soviet Red Army uniform standing until last Friday on small green square in centre of capital Tallinn, was for Estonians the symbol of harsh Soviet occupations from 1940 - 1941 and 1944 to 1991. Ten’s of thousand people were deported without court decision to Siberia or killed in Soviet state-terror during that regime as a part of ethnic cleansing.
But part of the Russian community, migrated here within same Soviet occupation in search of better and European-style life, is following cold-war time Soviet history concept. For them these events and statue meant memorial of “liberation” of Baltic States Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as whole Europe in WW II.
Nazi equals Soviet
The problem is that Baltic States, but also Poland have suffered both from Nazi-Germany and Soviet occupations in WW II. And defeating the Nazi-Germany did not mean that Baltic countries were liberated, but that German occupation was changed by other, Soviet occupation, which in some cases was even worse.
Therefore Bronze Soldier was a symbol of Soviet empire and simply could not been tolerated any longer in centre of capital of EU and NATO member country. Especially because within last years it was increasingly used by Putin propaganda-machine as a Russian symbol to generate tension in Estonia between whole society and less integrated smaller part of Russian community.
So it was inevitable to relocate it from Tallinn city centre, leaving still chance for those, who have different opinions, chance to visit the statue on military cemetery in Tallinn, where also the remains of dozen Soviet soldiers will be reburied.
Heavy violent propaganda and co-ordination from Russia
Government planned to relocate the statue last week in peaceful manner with holy memorial ceremony. But about thousand people, demanding not to touch the monument at all as it was symbol of Russian power, started to attack police and throw the stones. This confrontation coordinated by Russian embassy in Tallinn and turned on heavily by numerous Russian TV-channels frequent and unbalanced emotional reports, widespread quickly and turned into street violence, vandalism and shop raiding, never taken place in Tallinn before. Almost everybody and everything, not being Russian origin, was labeled to be “fascist”. Also, the windows of Estonian National Opera and main square located St. John’s Church were stoned.
Shouting: “Russia! Russia!” the shop raiders were stealing the alcohol, premium brand clothes (Hugo Boss, Giorgio Armani, Gucci shops were raided). About hundred shops were raided and stoned, dozens of cars beaten. As a result, almost 1000 people were arrested in three days, amongst them number of experienced criminals with long track record.
Considering the situation, the Bronze Soldier statue was relocated on Friday morning and is standing now on Defense Forces cemetery where it’s accessible to everyone.
But this has not stopped the propaganda war from Moscow.
Massive hostile media campaign from Russia against Estonia has now reached advanced stage, accusing Estonia in re-evaluation of WW II results, of course not speaking a single word about Soviet-run mass crimes, killings and deportations in Baltic States during Soviet occupation. Also, shop robbers are shown in Russian TV as “fighters for our memory and against fascism” and Estonian government and police are accused by Russian TV as “state repressive organs, humiliating rights of Russians”. It’s No. 1 news topic in all Russian TV channels already for three days.
The fact, that statue of Bronze Soldier has been removed and erected already in new place (Defense Forces Cemetery) where everyone can visit it, has not changed the attitude.
Hysteric reactions from Russia
Russian Parliament has demanded to place the statue back to where it was before, also that Estonian Government has to step down. Needless to say, this is clear interference to Estonian internal affairs by all means.
The Russian state accusations by now (Tuesday, Wednesday) have become absolutely hysterical and expressing complete lies. The member of Russian Parliament, Gosduma, Mr. Kovaljev accused after seeing the monument yesterday on its new location, that “statue has been sawed and holy memory disgraced”. According to workers, giving an interview in Estonian TV, nothing such has happened as statue was relocated in one unit and as soon as possible.
Also, massive scam and internet attacks against Estonian state authorities’ websites and media channels IT-systems have been started from Russia. “It’s identified now that in some cases IP-addresses are related directly to Kremlin-run organizations and structures related presidential authorities of Russia,” said Urmas Paet, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, yesterday on press conference. Also, it’s proven that many people confronting police forces before events went violent, were paid by Embassy-run organizers a 80 EEK (app. EUR 5) per hour.
Estonian embassy in Moscow is on under heavy 24h protest waves, psycho terror and attacks of Kremlin-supported youth organization “Nashi”, getting minimal formal defense from Russian Militia. Estonian ambassador Mrs. Marina Kaljurand was attacked physically today (Wed, May 2) while trying to give a press conference. “Nashi” even declared that demolition of Estonian embassy in Moscow will start on June 12!
Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Vice Chairman of Russian Parliament said yesterday: “Russia should organize major military campaign next to border with Estonia. And some troops may be mistakenly happen to be in Estonia and demolishing many cultural and historic sites. After which we will apologize, of course.”
It’s important to note that despite all of this, most of the people in Estonia are still calm and there are no cases of violence from Estonian community. The importance of situation is illustrated by fact that almost 2000 people by now in Estonia have applied to become a member of Police Support Organization to protect the country from internal conflicts, coordinated from abroad.
Soviet monuments not relocated, but demolished in Russia
As a curiosity, Russian overreaction is hypocritical because on very same time, WW II monuments for Russian soldiers are demolished (not replaced) in Russia itself. It has happened in Moscow satellite city Himki a few weeks ago, also in Stavropoulos in southern region on last autumn.
So all in all - it’s symbolic war against Europe and another clear evidence of former KGB agent Putin tactics to show the world that Russia has not changed and need to show a power.
We hope that all people reading this information will make their move on their home countries by demanding Russia stopping interfering immediately to Estonian /EU internal affairs. Also passing this info to as many people and media channels as you can, because Russian (population 150m people) TV propaganda is exceeding Estonian (1,3m people) explanations.
commentator “Michael” is a prime example of easily impressionable youngster who gets whipped up by the Russian nationalistic rhetoric. Rhetoric that is very similar to Soviet propaganda from 1940: a small independent nation is pictured as a horrible monster who must be crushed. Everyone who doesnt dance to the pipes of Russia is pictured as a “fashist”. Poor Russia, surrounded by “fashists”.
Estonia is a democratic western nation. Many members of current Estonian government (who in view of Michael are “fashists”) have received high decorations from countries as different as modern Germany and Malta. Do you think these countries give medals to Nazi’s? Organizations of other minorities in Estonia, like Armenians, Georgians etc. have repeatedly spoken out about the exceptional tolerance of Estonian society. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other international organizations have found Estonia’s citizenship laws to be satisfactory. Dutch ambassador to Russia, Tiddo Hofstee, has affirmed Estonia’s compliance with the Copenhagen criteria on the protection of ethnic minorities.
The real reason behind the current crisis is this (taken from an article written by mr. Laar, as he can put it much better than i can):
Putin has dramatically altered the approach at the Kremlin to the past, and therefore to the future. The current Russian president builds a new messianic and imperial identity around the victory over Nazism, which was also used by his predecessors to legitimize the U.S.S.R. This war, which the Russians call the “Great Patriotic War,” didn’t start with Hitler’s invasion of Poland in 1939. Russia helped start World War II through the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact signed a week before the Panzers stormed east, while Stalin’s troops took chunks of Poland and all the Baltic countries. The “Great Patriotic War” begins in 1941, when Hitler turned on his ally.
In a context where Stalin is more and more a founding hero for the “new Russia,” it’s no wonder that the crimes of occupation of neighboring countries and of communism are denied. And Russia aggressively demands that formerly occupied countries in the Soviet bloc accept its new understanding of the past. Any mention about the crimes of the Soviet era is called an insult to the “heroes of the Great Patriotic War.” Former NKVD officers, accused of committing crimes against humanity for organizing deportations, are defended by lawyers hired by Russia. When Georgia opened its museum of Soviet occupation, it was furiously criticized by the Kremlin and Russian media.
VERONICA:
I think you are the one who is confused. “Night Watch” refers to the group of protesters who organized to “defend” the monument from the Estonian authorities. Nashi is part of that group, and I’ve seen no information to suggest they don’t control it; as far as I know, these same folks are the ones who provoked the violence. It’s a pity the Russian sources (or any sources, for that matter) don’t tell us more about Nashi’s involvement, and how the Kremlin pulls their strings.
Just try to imagine Americans provoking an incident like this in Moscow!
VERONICA:
Your link to “a set of pogrom pictures by Flickr user neoroma” doesn’t work. Any chance of a fix?
The viewing mode for the Flickr set seems to have been changed to “private” at some point, so the link no longer works. Thanks for letting me know.
[...] That statute crisis explained - and a first-hand account of the rioting (with a translation here). [...]
We were being pushed from the crossing near the library quite crudely. They were beating [us] with [rubber] sticks, and washing [us] lavishly with tear gas.???
Are you sure you were there? they did what they had to.. this kind of even is not for staring so next time DO NOT GO simple as that
For all you Russians complaining about Estonia not prosecuting war criminals (one even has the gall to complain about Estonia not persecuting LITHUANIAN war criminals), how many war criminals who were responsible for the deportations and murders of innocent Estonians were ever brought to trial in the USSR or are still running around Russia?
How many of them were given Stalin or Lenin medals for their work?
I have read through most of the readers’ comments and have come to a conclusion that politics and history and in some cases ignorance (see Marco Ekco’s comment) give us all a biased perspective to the problem of Russian-speaking Estonians.
The root of the problem is in the failure of Estonia’s government to create conditions in which both ethnic groups (Estonian and Russian) would be treated equally.
Perhaps if russian-speaking population had the same standard of living as the rest of the country there would be no riots? Perhaps if the government embrased it’s russian population and not alienated it (literally) - a 50 year old fact or fiction would not have become the spark that ignites the fire.
There is no excuse for the glorification of Soviet barbarism and genocide. The ethnic Russians need to find ways to express themselves within an acceptable democratic context.
The overwhleming majority of Estonian SS were simple combat soldiers defending their country in the only way available to them. The pro-Soviet revisionists use the examples of a few criminals in a transparent attempt to smear the reputations of thousands of fine men.
My Grandfather and several other members of my family wer’e murdered by the invasion of Soviet Troops in Estonia 1944. Having a monument relating to anything Russian has to be seen as criminal, if these Russian/Estonians are so proud of there Russian heritage then maybe they should think about re joining their families within Russia, Estonia is now free and has to re-build, and in doing so the authorities can start from the beginning (once again)and build a new Estonia free from all previous occupiers of their country and remove any reminders of attrocities committed in the past by the Soviet or Nazi Regimes.I am not saying that Russians who are born in Estonia should leave, but what they need to do is leave the Russian way of thinking i.e.thinking that they are still in power and all must be frightened of them, Putin is no different in his way of thinking to that of past leaders in Russia, look at the people there. Maybe the demonstrators in Estonia should consider themselves fortunate enough to be able to demonstrate in the first instance.