Estonia's relations with its Russian minority

Following a decision reached by the Estonian parliament in mid-February, the statue of a Soviet soldier is to be removed from Tallinn's city centre. A new bill foresees a general ban against the public exhibition of monuments that glorify the country's occupation by Soviet forces. András Németh explains the background: "The 350,000 members of the Russian minority in Estonia continue to be a problem for the country. Only a third of them have become Estonian citizens. The rest are either stateless or remain Russian citizens... Estonians accuse this minority of a lack of loyalty to Estonia and are demanding they learn Estonian. The Russians, for their part, condemn Estonia's 'official falsification of history'. At the 'Museum of the Occupying Forces' there is a caption that explains the Russians' displeasure: 'In terms of sheer brutality and the number of people killed, the German occupation was less ruthless than the Soviet occupation of Estonia'. In the next room there's a video on show in which former Estonian SS soldiers justify their collaboration with Nazi Germany by saying that as loyal sons of their country it was their way of taking revenge for the atrocities committed by Russia."

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