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| Europe |
| Tallinn Calm - Finland calls for EU solidarity |
| 2007-04-30 |
| Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) said on Sunday that dealing with the confusing situation in Estonia is Estonia's own affair, and that outsiders should not interfere in the matter. Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva (Nat. Coalition Party) took up the same matter on Sunday in a message to Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the foreign minister of European Union Presidency-holder Germany. Kanerva called solidarity with Estonia, and a common policy line from the European Union. The reactions came in the wake of unrest in the Estonian capital Tallinn sparked by the removal of a Soviet war memorial from the centre of the city, which has sparked anger among Russians living in the country. The difference in the tone of the messages caught the attention of observers on Sunday. The emphasis in previous statements is that other countries should not interfere with Estonia's unrest. Kanerva said in his message that he welcomes the fact that German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been in touch with Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip and Russian President Vladimir Putin to calm the situation down. Noting that he has followed the situation in Estonia closely, Kanerva emphasised the importance of a common policy line on the part of EU member states - something that is underscored by the present types of circumstances. He added that mutual solidarity is important, and that support is especially important for small member states of the EU. Kanerva expressed confidence that Estonia will be able to handle the situation on its own and to bring the dispute over the war memorial to a conclusion that takes into consideration the feelings of all national groups in the country. He also said that turning this internal affair of Estonia into a dispute between the EU and Russia would not benefit anyone. Foreign Minister Kanerva told Helsingin Sanomat on Sunday that he sees no conflict between his views and those of Prime Minister Vanhanen. Kanerva said that both he and Vanhanen feel that Estonia has the power and the responsibility to deal with the problems. "The sovereign state must deal with the matter in a way that takes all national groups into consideration", he said. Kanerva and Vanhanen discussed the situation by telephone on Sunday. Prime Minister Vanhanen noted in his blog that moving statues has not been the Finnish way of doing things. "However, there is no call for brotherly sophistry", he added. "The location of a statue as such cannot be a human rights issue, and the international community cannot have any right to interfere with the matter. This includes neighbouring countries. The moving of the statue and the demonstrations that have resulted from it are an internal affair for Estonia, and no external power has the right to interfere", Vanhanen observed. Meanwhile, in Tallinn, preparations were being made to move the memorial to its planned new location, a military cemetery. "We want to show as early as possible - possibly already on Monday - that the statue is intact and in good condition", said Estonia's Minister of Defence Jaak Aaviksoo in a press conference on Sunday. The diplomatic tone of the Defence Minister's speech was in sharp contrast with recent pronouncements by other Estonian politicians. Aaviksoo said that the aim is to have the monument relocated so that a ceremony can be held at the new location on May 8th, when Western countries celebrate the victory over Nazi Germany in the Second World War. Estonia plans to invite representatives of all countries involved in the fight to the ceremony. Russia officially celebrates Victory Day on May 9th. Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmas Paet recapped the reasons for the relocation of the monument. He said that the most important reason was the symbolic significance for the majority of Estonian residents, for whom it marked the beginning of Soviet occupation and deportations. He added that the statue had become a gathering place for political provocateurs. Paet also thanked neighbouring countries - Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania - for taking a balanced view of the events. Both Paet and Aaviksoo would not see the dispute as an ethnic conflict. "We have seen riots in Europe and Russia, which were sparked by football games. Tallinn has been spared these, and the police were inexperienced on the first night ... on the second night things were better under control." Estonian police opened a website containing pictures of the unrest; where members of the public are asked to identify rioters, looters, and men in the background talking into mobile telephones. Suspicions were voiced among both native Estonians and ethnic Russians in Tallinn, that members of the Russian security service FSB might be involved in the violence. Three Estonian Russian organisations issued a public appeal on Sunday for an end to the violence. |
| Posted by:mrp |