Row over Estonia's Soviet Soldier statue escalates
MOSCOW -- Russia’s conflict with Estonia over the removal of a monument to the Red Army escalated yesterday after pro-Kremlin activists in Moscow tried to assault the Baltic republic’s ambassador.
The EU entered the confrontation, calling on Russia to uphold commitments to protect foreign diplomats. A mob also attacked a car carrying Sweden’s representative in Moscow as it left the Estonian Embassy. [And the state-owned Russian Railways suddenly halted oil deliveries to Estonian ports.]
Andrus Ansip, the Estonian Prime Minister, appealed to the EU for support, saying that his nation’s sovereignty was under ''heavy'' attack. President Ilves told Russia to ''remain civilised''.
Russia blamed Estonia for tensions that followed the removal on Friday of the statue of the Bronze Soldier from the centre of Tallinn to a military cemetery...
The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Estonia of provoking the protests by moving the monument to the Soviet Union’s dead in the war against Nazi Germany.
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The EU entered the confrontation, calling on Russia to uphold commitments to protect foreign diplomats. A mob also attacked a car carrying Sweden’s representative in Moscow as it left the Estonian Embassy. [And the state-owned Russian Railways suddenly halted oil deliveries to Estonian ports.]
Andrus Ansip, the Estonian Prime Minister, appealed to the EU for support, saying that his nation’s sovereignty was under ''heavy'' attack. President Ilves told Russia to ''remain civilised''.
Russia blamed Estonia for tensions that followed the removal on Friday of the statue of the Bronze Soldier from the centre of Tallinn to a military cemetery...
The Russian Foreign Ministry accused Estonia of provoking the protests by moving the monument to the Soviet Union’s dead in the war against Nazi Germany.