ESTONIA: ETHNIC TENSION OVER TALLINN'S "BRONZE

UNCLAS TALLINN 000533

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EN
SUBJECT: ESTONIA: ETHNIC TENSION OVER TALLINN'S "BRONZE
SOLDIER"

REF: TALLINN 439


1. (SBU) Summary: Tensions have escalated between ethnic
Estonians and Estonia's Russian-speaking community over
the fate of a World War II monument in central Tallinn
depicting a Red Army soldier. The proximate cause is an
event involving the desecration of an Estonian flag
carried by two counter-demonstrators during a May 9
Victory Day gathering of Russian-speakers (reftel).
Radicals from both sides have since fanned the flames,
leading Minister of Interior Kalle Laanet to ban
demonstrations at the site. Estonia's governing
coalition is split on what to do with the statue: PM
Andrus Ansip?s Reform Party has said it should be
removed from its current location, the Center Party and
People's Union advise that it be left alone. Some
Russian groups have suggested they will attempt to draw
the Embassy into the controversy. If asked, we will say
this is a matter for Estonia to resolve. End summary.


2. (U) Tallinn's so-called "Bronze Soldier" carries
considerable baggage. A wooden memorial erected at the
site in the aftermath of World War II was blown up
(supposedly by a group of Estonian school girls who then
received eight years imprisonment for their deed). The
current monument, with the inscription "To those who
perished in WWII," has been in place since 1947. In
recent years it has come to symbolize the chasm between
Estonian and Russian understanding of recent history.
Russians consider it "their" monument of victory over
fascism in the Great Patriotic War, Estonians as a
monument to the Soviet occupation.


3. (U) In the aftermath of May 9 Victory Day
commemorations scuffles broke out at the site between
groups of Estonians and Russian-speakers on several
occasions. Following a May 20 incident, Interior
Minister Kalle Laanet banned demonstrations at the site.
The police have maintained a presence there since.


4. (U) Estonia?s governing coalition is divided on what
to do with the monument. Prime Minister Andrus Ansip
has said he favors moving it to a less conspicuous
location, though he says the government is not prepared
to make a decision on the matter. Ansip's Center Party
and People's Union coalition partners both suggest the
statue remain where it is.


5. (U) With an election cycle approaching, there are
plenty of elements on both sides of the debate prepared
to exploit the situation for political gain. Russian-
speaking politician Dmitri Klenski, unfazed by an
electoral pasting during Tallinn municipal elections,
has gathered 22,000 signatures on a petition that he
plans to present to the Council of Europe. Klenski has
been joined by the Russian-speaking Constitutional
Party. Party Chairman Andrei Zarenkov proposed to the
Center Party and People's Union a joint antifascist
march to the monument on June 22, the anniversary of
Nazi Germany's attack on the Soviet Union. (The
proposal was ignored.) On the Estonian side, the
instigator of the 2004 Lihula monument contretemps Tiit
Madisson, and others of his ilk, have talked about the
need to form a political party that would "protect
Estonian values."


6. (U) A recent public opinion survey showed that 53
percent of Estonians support the removal of the
monument. Among Russian-speakers, 73 percent opposed the
monument's removal.


7. (SBU) Comment: We plan to keep our distance from this
debate. If asked, we will say this is a matter for
Estonia to resolve.

WOS