Quote:
Originally Posted by Linda16
Can you elaborate your argument a little bit? How are Russians treated VERY badly in Estonia? How is National Socialism related to Estonian politicians? Why do you think that local Russians do not think that Estonia has a right to exist?
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The Estonian government refuses to grant citizenship to a large portion of its Russian population (in fact, not only its Russian population falls victim to these policies; the same goes for Ukrainians, Germans etc., anyone whose forebears did not posses Estonian citizenship before the Soviet annexation). Only 35% of the Estonian Russian population (which itself is between a quarter and a third of the entire Estonian population) holds Estonian citizenship; about the same percentage holds no citizenship at all; the remaining Estonian Russians hold Russian citizenship, but this brings along major disadvantages when living in Estonia (basically, you have a whole lot less rights; for example, the only elections you can vote in are municipal elections). Also, discrimination against Russian Estonians is very common in everyday life in Estonia.
The European Union has, in the past, expressed its concern about this situation; but as usual, has not been to do anything about it.
As for the National Socialism thing; the previous Estonian government made headlines in 2002 when it removed a monument in Parnu honoring Estonian members of the Waffen SS; a move they made because they believed the momument would hinder the Estonian accession to the EU. However, the removal caused quite a stir, politically; the monument enjoyed quite some popularity, because it was very explicitly anti-Russian. What most Western sources failed to mention was that this momument was not first unveiled DURING world war II, but was actually supposed to be first unveiled hours before its removal in 2002. This was not a 60 year old monument Soviet authorities had forgotten about, it was a brand-spanking new monument honoring members of the Waffen SS.
The story does not end there; far from it. The momument was moved to Lihula, where it was finally unveiled in 2004; a number of MP's from different political parties were reported to be present at the unveiling. However, it once again attracted a lot of foreign criticism, and was removed under presssure of the United States, and the European Union. Russia complained too, but I doubt that helped. If anything, it would probably have been a reason to keep the monument where it had been standing up to that point.
Anyway, there's more still. After its second removal, the monument was moved again in 2005; this time to Lagedi, a village just outside Tallinn, where it got a new place near the Museum of Fight for Estonia's Freedom. Once again, several MP's were reported to be present at the unveiling, although it would not surprise me if they were the same ones that were present at the 2004 unveiling. Once again, the unveiling caused public outcry; particularly in Russia, and (quite understandably) Israel. However, the monument was not removed a third time; it's still there in Lagedi.
As for your third question; when I said Russians in Estonia do not think the country has a right to exist, it was part of an answer to haku's previous post, where he stated that this was the case. I do believe he is partly right about this; I think a large number of Russian youths in Estonia really do not believe the country has a right to exist. But in all honesty, the Estonian government has gone out of its way to worsen this feeling.
long post!
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