Russia boycotts Estonian goods

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has called for a boycott against Estonian goods. One reason for the Russians' harsher tone is the row over the bronze statue, a Soviet monument in central Tallinn which Estonia wants to have removed. Aivars Ozolins says this is scandalous. "Before the Duma elections in December 2007 and the presidential elections in March 2008, the Kremlin and the country's political elite need both internal and external enemies, and Estonia is an ideal candidate for the external enemy. The 'internal enemies' are the foreigners: since April 1 they are no longer allowed to trade in Russian markets, and this is fomenting racism." This whole process doesn't bode well for Latvia either, Aivars writes. "The thaw in the relations we have experienced since we signed the border treaty with Russia will probably prove to be short-lived."

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