ESTONIA: Estonian president condemns rioting over statue as calm returns to capital

The president of Estonia condemns rioting that erupted overnight over the removal of a controversial statue of Soviet Red Army Soviet soldier in the centre of Tallinn. Estonia removed a controversial statue of a Soviet Red Army soldier from the centre of its capital early on Friday (April 27) after riots in protest against the decision in which one man was killed. Russia reacted angrily and its upper house of parliament voted to ask President Vladimir Putin to cut off relations with the small Baltic state. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would "take serious steps" against Estonia, Russian news agencies reported. Estonia says the monument, erected in 1947, is a public order problem as it attracts Estonian and Russian nationalists. It has also said it is more respectful for the dead to be buried in a cemetery. Speaking on Thursday before rioting erupted, Estonian Defence Ministry spokesman Madis Mikko said: "Estonia is not making any attempt to rewrite the history of World War Two. "Estonia has never said that the war monument in Tonismagi has to be destroyed. The issue is that the graves, which were once put here with aims of propaganda can find a peaceful resting place in a cemetery." Removing it angered some Russian-speakers, a large minority of about 300,000 in the country of 1.3 million. Estonians tend to view it as a reminder of 50 years of Soviet occupation. As darkness fell on Thursday, tension rose as protesters clashed with riot police. Television pictures showed protesters throwing rocks and other missiles at the police who retaliated by firing tear gas. Police estimated the crowd at about 1,000 protesters. The government said one man was killed after being stabbed during the violence. Police arrested 300 people, and 44 protesters and 13 police officers were hurt. Looters broke into shops, began fires and turned over cars. The two-metre (6-1/2 feet) high bronze statue of a World War Two Red Army soldier was spirited away overnight after Thursday's violence, the worst for years in Estonia. Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves condemned the violence in a televised address on Friday. "Dear citizens, the images we saw in the centre of Tallinn last night were looting, brawling, robbing," he said. "It was a crime and the participants are criminals. All this has no connection with the peace of graves or keeping the memory of those who died in World War Two. The night-time criminals were not united by nationality, but just by the wish to brawl, break and loot." Calm returned to the capital Tallinn on Friday with workers busy boarding up shop windows smashed by looters. Worried shopkeepers surveyed the damage. A woman whose dress shop was looted told Reuters: "It won't get better... it won't get better," Others did not see why the statue had to be removed. One Tallinn resident near the scene said: "Our government thinks that the monument shouldn't be there. They want to rewrite history by alleging that the communists were great occupiers. "But the monument which is in at the centre of the row was erected to commemorate those who died during the Second World War, and that means both Russians and Estonians and many others who fought fascism." Russia, which has had a troubled relationship with Estonia since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, has protested against the monument's removal as an insult to those who fought against fascism. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin was quoted as saying the move was "inhuman", "sacrilegious" and "harsh" especially because it happened ahead of the May 9 anniversary of the end of World War Two, a popular public holiday in Russia.

ITN Source | April 28, 2007

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