Estonia is on the verge of a big war with monuments
The Maarjamägi memorial complex in Estonia, under threat of demolition, may become hostage to the political games of local parliamentarians.
This was reported by the Estonian resource “err.ee”, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Thus, the Estonian government intends to demolish the memorial complex dedicated to Russian Baltic sailors. The head of the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, founder of the Conservative People's Party (EKRE) Mart Helme called this monument “a symbol of the occupation period.”
“I personally consider it (the Maarjamägi memorial - ed.) a symbol of the occupation period; it, like Gorhall and other objects, bears the ugly stamp of Soviet-era modernism. Let's approach the matter pragmatically: these objects are destroyed, Gorhall needs tens of millions, the complex is falling apart. From a practical point of view, tidying up these objects is unwise. It would make more sense to demolish them,” Helme said.
The Gorhall mentioned by the minister is a cultural and sports complex donated to Tallinn by the Soviet Union for the 1980 Summer Olympics. It is noteworthy that during the USSR, the architects of Gorhall (all ethnic Estonians) received the USSR State Prize for it, and after independence, the facility was destroyed and abandoned. The Maarjamägi memorial is in the same condition. The eternal flame is not burning, the memorial obelisk is being destroyed, and the stands are covered in graffiti.
At the same time, the pro-government Center Party sharply condemned this initiative.
“As long as the Center Party is in power in Tallinn, Gorhollu, and the Maarjamägi memorial is not in danger of being demolished: as the mayor of the capital, Mikhail Kõlvart, said, the city is not at war with monuments,” Rubaltic quotes Deputy Mayor of Tallinn Vadim Belobrovtsev.
Official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova commented on the situation.
“The other day it became known about new plans of Estonian politicians to combat the elements of the “Soviet legacy” remaining in the country. This time we are talking about the memorial built in 1960 on Marjamägi Hill in Tallinn in memory of the heroism of the Baltic Fleet sailors during the First World War. According to Estonian Interior Minister Helme, this facility, which is in a dilapidated state, is a “symbol of the occupation period” and therefore should be demolished.
In the city leadership, however, much more adequate assessments prevailed. As the capital's mayor Kylvart noted, Tallinn is not waging a war on monuments and is ready to buy the monument in order to start putting it in order.
Let’s hope that common sense will still prevail in Estonia, and the country’s political forces will not allow themselves another provocation, which would certainly contribute to the further disintegration of the thousands of Russian-speaking community and the stagnation of bilateral relations,” said the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“For our part, we will continue, including on international platforms, active work to counter the rewriting of common history and the desecration of Soviet memorials in the Baltic states,” Zakharova added.
It is noteworthy that EKRE, to which Helme belongs, is an ally in the ruling coalition with the Center Party. Moreover, this “union” is accompanied by loud scandals, showdowns and dissociation from each other on literally every occasion.
“Under such conditions, Soviet monuments in Estonia may become the main victims of political manipulation and the struggle for power between parties,” noted Rubaltic.
It is assumed that EKRE “conservatives” can use the topic of monuments to collapse the coalition with the centrists. Another option is to force the “allies” to change their position on monuments in order to preserve the coalition, in order to promote themselves and satisfy the appetites of the nationalist electorate. In addition, the publication does not rule out that the demolition of monuments could become an ideological platform for uniting EKRE with the Reform Party, which is now in opposition, whose leaders decided to demolish the “Bronze Soldier” 13 years ago. All of the above leads to the conclusion that the next elections, Estonia may face new “Bronze Nights” and wars with monuments.
It is worth adding that this summer, in the year of the 75th anniversary of the Great Victory, official Tallinn unveiled a monument to Hitler's collaborators from the "Forest Brothers" gang.
Estonia on the brink of a major war with monuments