Russia's demonstration of national power

World War II memorials "were deliberately designed as symbols of Soviet power," states Romanian-German writer Richard Wagner, explaining the vehemence of the Russian-Estonian memorial dispute: "An empire that knows no public debate can only express itself through extreme symbolism. This is still in evidence now that end Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe is over. Russia never confronted its inglorious role in controlling the peoples of Eastern Europe after World War II. The failure of democratisation in Russia, the way it has reanchored itself into super-confident, resource-squandering, society-controlling conglomerate also leads to its aggressive behaviour vis-à-vis the new free states."

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