Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TALLINN305
2009-10-06 09:58:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tallinn
Cable title:  

Relations with Russia, From Estonia's Russian East

Tags:  PGOV PREL ECON EN 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHTL #0305/01 2790958
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R 060958Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0150
INFO RUEHHE/AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 0004
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0015
RUEHRA/AMEMBASSY RIGA 0022
RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 0021
C O N F I D E N T I A L TALLINN 000305 

SIPDIS
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/10/06
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EN
SUBJECT: Relations with Russia, From Estonia's Russian East

CLASSIFIED BY: Marc Nordberg, Political/Economic Chief; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)

Classified by Charge Karen Decker for Reasons 1.4 B&D.



C O N F I D E N T I A L TALLINN 000305

SIPDIS
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/10/06
TAGS: PGOV PREL ECON EN
SUBJECT: Relations with Russia, From Estonia's Russian East

CLASSIFIED BY: Marc Nordberg, Political/Economic Chief; REASON:
1.4(B),(D)

Classified by Charge Karen Decker for Reasons 1.4 B&D.




1. (U) Summary: Pol/Econ Chief recently visited Narva, in
north-eastern Estonia, a city that sits (literally) on the EU's
bridge to Russia. Narva is overwhelmingly ethnically and
linguistically Russian, yet Emboff found that the city's ties to
Russia are few and growing weaker. Students prefer to study, and
workers to work, in the EU. Local residents feel at home neither
in Russia nor in the rest of Estonia. Moreover, while they often
visit Russia, they do not have the romanticized view of Russia that
Russian-speakers in Tallinn hold. Local government does little
business with Russia, partially a result of cool relations between
Tallinn and Moscow. Local Customs officials report they have good
cooperation with their working-level Russian counterparts, but that
Moscow has told Russian border officials to keep contact limited.
Economic ties are stronger, with Russian companies investing in
eastern Estonia, but cross border trade is hampered by an
inefficient Russian border regime. Even with declining ties, the
Chair of the City Council is likely to use feelings of pride in
Russian history for political gain when he erects a statue of Peter
the Great in the near future. Such a move will increase Russian
speakers support for the opposition, but also drive ethnic Russians
and Estonians further apart. End summary.




2. (U) Pol/Econ Chief visited the Estonian border city of Narva on
September 23 and 24 as part of the embassy's Regional Outreach
Program. In accordance with the Mission Strategic Plan goal of
reaching out to local Russian-speakers, Pol/Econ Chief spoke to
students at two schools and conducted an hour-long interview for
local Russian-language radio. Narva is on the Russian border,
just across a small river from Ivangorod, and has a population of
67,000, 97 percent of whom are Russian citizens. Narva, along with
the Lasnamae district in Tallinn, are the main homes to Estonia's
Russian minority. Narva was rebuilt almost entirely after World

War II and settled by migrant Russian blue-collar workers. As
such, Narva very much feels like a Russian city.





Local Government Woes

--------------




3. (C) Mikhail Stalnuhin, Chairman of the Narva City Council, is
the most powerful politician in the city. He explained that most
people in Narva heartily dislike Prime Minister Ansip ("Ansip is an
idiot"),and not only for his role in the April 2007 Bronze Soldier
riots. Stalnuhin griped to Emboff that Ansip's desire to join the
euro zone has been disastrous for municipalities. Narva was given
904 million EEK in its 2009 budget. This included 114 million EEK
in credit and loans, but early in the year the GOE told cities they
would not be allowed to use loans this year, as the GOE needed to
keep its budget deficit under three percent to qualify for the
euro. Stalnuhin said that Tallinn and Narva have both taken the
GOE to court to challenge this ruling. (Comment: the political
leadership in both Tallinn and Narva are in the opposition to
Ansip's government, so there is a political dimension to this move
as well.) Further, he said Narva lost another USD one million when
the GOE cut the share of income tax paid to cities (from 12.93% of
income to 12.43%),and lost more when funds from the GOE for road
repairs fell from 30 million to 9 million EEK. As a result of
cuts, Narva faces a budget deficit of 40 million EEK this year. At
the same time unemployment in the city reached 20 percent. Last
January, 23,000 Narvans were employed (and paying income taxes).
That has fallen to 22,500, while another 3,000 workers have
returned to Narva after losing jobs in Finland and Tallinn. Even
with these problems, Stalnuhin stressed the situation is better
than in 1998.




4. (C) Despite Narva being an ethnically Russian city, Stalnuhin
(himself speaking Russian) said his city has few ties with
neighboring Ivangorod. The two have a joint project rehabilitating
the river's banks, but that is the extent of practical cooperation.
Local relations soured recently over a dam between the towns. Each

country inherited half the dam when the Soviet Union collapsed, and
traditionally Russia has maintained the structure. Recently the
GOE turned down a Russian offer to renovate the sluices on the
Estonian side. Stalnuhin blamed Russophobia in Tallinn for this
decision. This dam controls a reservoir needed for the Narva Power
plant, which produces much of Estonia's electricity.





Legacy of Peter the Great

--------------




5. (C) Stalnuhin had in his office a statue of Peter the Great that
he intends to erect in Narva. This statue has already attracted
controversy, particularly as several ethnic Estonian politicians,
including PM Ansip, have publicly opposed the statue, citing Peter
the Great as a "conqueror" of Estonia. Stalnuhin said he would
erect the statue within three weeks, using privately donated money
and on privately owned land. He said this was necessary to prevent
the GOE from blocking the statue. Stalnuhin would not say exactly
when or where he would put up the statue, citing the public
controversy. (Comment: The three week deadline places the time
near the October 18 local elections. Stalnuhin is a member of the
opposition Center Party, and would possibly use the statue, and the
inevitable negative response from the GOE, to boost support for
Center among Russian-speakers. End comment).





Russian Border Very Slow

--------------




6. (U) Pol/Econ Chief toured the Estonian side of Narva's border
crossing and spoke with Customs officials. Driving to Narva,
hundreds of trucks can be seen parked alongside the highway.
Customs explained that trucks wait up to six days to cross into
Russia, because of delays on the Russian side. Although the
Russian Customs point is larger, its officers work much slower (a
view seconded by the Narva Business Center). While the Estonian
side can process up to 400 trucks a day, the Russian side can only
handle 70. The Russian side also focuses on clearing trucks
leaving Russia, so those wait for less than ten hours (another
factor is that 90 percent of trucks entering Russia carry cargo,
while 50 percent leaving are empty). The customs posts in both
Narva and Ivangorod are in the middle of the cities, causing
problems for both local governments. Stalnuhin complained the
trucks clog and damage city roads, while he receives no money from
the state for repairs. Estonian Customs officers told us the GOE
has several times proposed building a new border crossing outside
the cities, but the Russian side has not responded. Estonian
Customs and Border Guards have good working-level cooperation with
their Russian counterparts (something we've also heard from GOE
authorities in Tallinn). The Estonian side would like more
contact, but said their Russian counterparts are under orders from
Moscow to limit cooperation. Each day 1,200 pedestrians and 800
cars cross at this border point - with cars waiting an average of
ten hours. Previously, it was not uncommon for people to live in
Estonia and work in Russia, and vice versa, but Customs said that
has become rare due to the economic crisis.





Narva Not Russia, Not Estonia, but Looking West

-------------- --------------




7. (U) Pol/Econ Chief spoke with students and staff at Narva
College, a branch of Tartu University, and at a local high school.
They explained that they do not feel Russian or Estonian, but
somewhere in the middle. In Russia, they are told they do not

really speak Russian (comment: they do, but with a slight accent).
Many students are now eager to learn Estonian, knowing it is needed
to receive a good job. Many others are focusing on English or
German, with the goal of emigrating from Estonia. The high school
principal said none of his students go to university in Russia
anymore, while it is common for them to study in the EU -
especially Sweden. Of the 755 students in his school, 90 percent
are Estonian citizens. At Narva College there were even several
ethnic Estonian students who decided to study in Narva to improve
their Russian.




8. (C) Sergei Stepanov, editor of the local paper Narvskaia Gazeta,
gave a more pessimistic view. He explained the GOE and political
parties (even those who cater to the Russian vote) have excluded
the Russian-speakers from any meaningful role in politics. In his
view, Estonians will allow Russians to participate only after they
have apologized for occupying Estonia. This exclusion allows
extremists among the Russian population to appear. Even so, he
claimed the Russian-speakers in Narva are not fans of Russia.
Narvans often visit Russia, and see the bad roads, poor medical
care, decrepit housing and rampant corruption, and know life is
better in Estonia. In contrast, Russian-speakers in the Tallinn
suburb of Lasnamae only know Russia from Russian TV, and so have a
romanticized image of that country.





Even Economics Politicized

--------------




9. (C) Vitali Sergeev, Chief Executive of the Narva Business
Center, provided the numbers. Idu-Virumaa County has 13.5 percent
of Estonia's population (179,000 people in the county),and
generates 16 percent of GDP. The county population is 80 percent
Russian-speaking. Idu-Virumaa has 100 percent of Estonia's
chemical and oil shale industrQ95 percent of electricity
production, and 53 percent of total industry. The city of Narva
itself accounts for 10 percent of Estonia's exports and 65 percent
of its transit. However, Sergeev complained that the GOE tries to
discourage foreign companies from investing in Idu-Virumaa, instead
trying to steer them toward ethnic Estonian regions. The region
does have some significant Russian investment: Sillamae Port is 50
percent owned by a Russian company, and other Russian firms are
active in transit and oil. The regions' skilled workers are also
being lured abroad by higher wages, especially to Finland.




10. (SBU) Comment: Estonia's ethnic Russians usually complain they
do not fit into Estonian society and that the GOE's integration
program really aims to assimilate, to turn Russians into Estonians.
We heard these complaints on this trip as well, but also saw signs
of slow progress. Ten years ago Estonia's Russian-speakers saw no
point in learning Estonian. Now many students want to learn
Estonian, for the economic prospects that become available. More
importantly, many parents want their children to learn Estonian,
recognizing that bilingual children have a strong advantage in the
job market. Even those who only do the bare minimum of required
language classes are looking west, to the EU, rather than to Russia
for their future. Integration is also becoming (slowly) a two-way
street, with some ethnic Estonians now moving to Narva to learn
Russian. It was heartening to see that, despite officially frosty
relations, local officials and border guards are able to cooperate
with their Russian counterparts when needed. While progress on
integration is slow, many realize this is a project that will take
generations. In the meantime, the GOE should make concessions
(such as on Peter the Great) to keep the situation calm and avoid
any repeat of the April 2007 riots.
DECKER