“A gang of bandits, Nazis, was expelled by another gang – Soviet troops,” Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves commented on the historical events connected with liberation of Estonia from the fascist troops in 1944 in an interview to BBC. The president also noted that the monument to soldiers killed in the World War II (Bronze Soldier Monument) in Tonismagi Square in Tallinn is offensive for Estonians, calling it a monument to mass killings. “This the way people see it. Probably, it is unpleasant to hear it, but in our perception this soldier embodies deportation and killings, destruction of the country instead of liberation.”
In the interview, Ilves also said Russia was inadequate in its
assessments of the situation with the Bronze Soldier. “Russia, with its
140 millions of population, suddenly felt offended by this superpower
Estonia with the population of a bit more than one million. Moscow
became indignant at the fact that Estonians dared to recollect history.
The problem is that there is no recognition of the fact that the Soviet
regime killed and terrorized people in countries like Estonia. While
speaking about liberation from Nazis, Moscow forgets that for
Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Poles it means hundreds of
thousands of deported people, dozens of thousands of killed people,
Katyn. For us, the USSR embodies this instead of liberation from
fascism.”
At the same time, the president stressed that he saw no problem in
the fact that part of Russian population has no citizenship and
deprived of rights; according to him, the subject of protecting rights
of national minorities in the Baltic countries is raised only by
Russia. “Probably, I will say something that may hurt some people, but
actually, there is a parallel between the whites in South Africa – the
group that was in a privileged position in the past, and now they are
equal to the others. I comprehend that it is hard for someone to lose
their privileges. The Estonian law on citizenship is much more liberal
than in many European countries.”
In conclusion, Ilves said that attempts by some Russian politicians
to divide Europe into the old and new ones is a hysterical reaction of
people “who do not know how to behave themselves.” Ilves added that he
saw no reasons why the EU should treat Russia differently from Latin
American countries. “We discuss all issues, and I see no reason why we
should treat Russia in a different way from the way we treat say Latin
American countries. Evidently, Spaniards and Portuguese do understand
well Latin American countries, and the experience is taken into
consideration in the EU. We have the same role, because we know Russia
better,” he concluded.
regnum.ru |
![[Vox.com.ua] Портал українця](http://www.vox.com.ua/button.gif){kind=small}
