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Estonia wants to remove Soviet monuments because of the Ukraine war - Russia reacts angrily

2022-08-15T02:59:00.184Z


Estonia wants to remove Soviet monuments because of the Ukraine war - Russia reacts angrily Created: 08/15/2022, 04:50 By: Linus Prien Soviet monument in Narva. (Archive image) © IMAGO/Konstantin Sednev There are several Soviet monuments in Europe. Estonia now wants to remove buildings honoring the Red Army. Russia is outraged. Tallinn - In the midst of the escalating Ukraine war, the Estonia


Estonia wants to remove Soviet monuments because of the Ukraine war - Russia reacts angrily

Created: 08/15/2022, 04:50

By: Linus Prien

Soviet monument in Narva.

(Archive image) © IMAGO/Konstantin Sednev

There are several Soviet monuments in Europe.

Estonia now wants to remove buildings honoring the Red Army.

Russia is outraged.

Tallinn - In the midst of the escalating Ukraine war, the Estonian government has decided that all Soviet monuments in the Baltic EU and NATO country are to be dismantled or relocated.

"The main thing is decided - Soviet monuments must be removed from public space, and we will do that as soon as possible," Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said in Tallinn on Thursday (11 August).

The timing and order therefore depended on the willingness and logistical planning of the cities and communities. 

Ukraine war: discussion about monument is "war against history"

According to the Prime Minister, there are about 200 to 400 Soviet monuments in Estonia.

A controversial tank monument near the Estonian-Russian border town of Narva in the east of the Baltic country has recently become the focus of public debate.

Dozens of people gathered there on Wednesday evening after rumors circulated that the war relic, which stood on a high pedestal, would be removed. 

As reported by the American news agency

Bloomberg

, the Kremlin said in response to the discussion about the monument: "The war against history, especially against a country with a common history, and the removal of monuments in honor of those who saved Europe from fascism, is of course unheard of.”

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Narva monument: "A tank is a murder weapon, it is not a memorial"

“A tank is a murder weapon, it is not a memorial.

And those same tanks are currently killing people on the streets of Ukraine,” Kallas said in return.

There are also no war graves under the memorial.

The administration of the city of around 60,000 inhabitants, more than 90 percent of whom are ethnic Russians, had previously spoken out against relocating the Soviet tank.

After the Prime Minister's announcement, she now wants to seek talks with the government in Tallinn.  

Estonia was alternately occupied by the Soviet Union and Germany during World War II.

After the end of the war, the Baltic state remained an involuntary part of the Soviet Union until 1991.

To date, around a quarter of the population are ethnic Russians, who often also have family ties to Russia.

According to polls, there is some support among them for the course taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war of aggression against Ukraine.

(lp/dpa)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-08-15

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