WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117788442362486332-search.html?KEYWORDS=estonia&COLLECTION=wsjie/6month
Estonia and the Bear
April 30, 2007
Russians rioted in Tallinn and other Estonian cities this weekend, leaving store fronts shattered, dozens injured and one man dead. Their stated grievance was the removal Friday of a Soviet war memorial from central Tallinn. The real inspiration was Moscow.
The Estonian government transferred the bronze statue of a Red Army soldier and exhumed remains of Soviet troops to a military cemetery near the capital. Estonians are generous to keep them at all. The Soviets annexed their country in 1940 and only let go 51 years later. France doesn't have a memorial to the Nazi occupation.
Since its liberation, no former Soviet republic has managed to irritate the bear as much as this plucky Baltic mouse of 1.3 million people -- including 300,000 Russians -- famous for its ultramodern economy. Moscow has for years accused Estonia and Latvia of violating ethnic Russians' rights. These countries insist, not unreasonably, that Russians learn a few words of their language to gain citizenship.
The memorial fracas gave Cold War nostalgics in Moscow an excuse to strike fresh. The upper house of Russia's parliament called on President Vladimir Putin to break off diplomatic ties, and the Kremlin warned of "serious consequences." Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a man unafraid of irony, said Estonia "was a country where human rights are not respected." Some of the 1,000 rioters arrested arrived only in recent days from Russia. Tallinn was calmer yesterday, but other towns saw looting and clashes with police.
In spite of such scenes, many Baltic Russians are none too displeased that the Cold War ended and left them stranded in what became prosperous and free societies that have recently joined the EU. Their ethnic kin to the east aren't so lucky. And the majority of Latvian and Estonian Russians have gotten their citizenship.
As the rioting shows, the Kremlin can still stir the Baltic pot. Fortunately, as a NATO member, little Estonia doesn't fear for its life, circa 1940.
Estonia and the Bear
April 30, 2007
Russians rioted in Tallinn and other Estonian cities this weekend, leaving store fronts shattered, dozens injured and one man dead. Their stated grievance was the removal Friday of a Soviet war memorial from central Tallinn. The real inspiration was Moscow.
The Estonian government transferred the bronze statue of a Red Army soldier and exhumed remains of Soviet troops to a military cemetery near the capital. Estonians are generous to keep them at all. The Soviets annexed their country in 1940 and only let go 51 years later. France doesn't have a memorial to the Nazi occupation.
Since its liberation, no former Soviet republic has managed to irritate the bear as much as this plucky Baltic mouse of 1.3 million people -- including 300,000 Russians -- famous for its ultramodern economy. Moscow has for years accused Estonia and Latvia of violating ethnic Russians' rights. These countries insist, not unreasonably, that Russians learn a few words of their language to gain citizenship.
The memorial fracas gave Cold War nostalgics in Moscow an excuse to strike fresh. The upper house of Russia's parliament called on President Vladimir Putin to break off diplomatic ties, and the Kremlin warned of "serious consequences." Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a man unafraid of irony, said Estonia "was a country where human rights are not respected." Some of the 1,000 rioters arrested arrived only in recent days from Russia. Tallinn was calmer yesterday, but other towns saw looting and clashes with police.
In spite of such scenes, many Baltic Russians are none too displeased that the Cold War ended and left them stranded in what became prosperous and free societies that have recently joined the EU. Their ethnic kin to the east aren't so lucky. And the majority of Latvian and Estonian Russians have gotten their citizenship.
As the rioting shows, the Kremlin can still stir the Baltic pot. Fortunately, as a NATO member, little Estonia doesn't fear for its life, circa 1940.
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Vanhimmat
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