Russian Youths Picket Estonian Embassy, Chanting “Fascism Will Not Pass!”

Excerpt from report by Russian Channel One Europe TV on 27 April

[Presenter, over video of young people dressed in WW2 military uniforms, holding banners, chanting "fascism will not pass!"] Those who are not indifferent to the fate of the Bronze Soldier monument gathered today outside the Estonian embassy in Moscow together with activists of youth movements, urging to boycott Estonian imports and not travel to that country. They also demand that Estonian top officials and MPs guilty of demolition of the Bronze Soldier be banned entry to Russia. A special statement issued by the Nashi youth movement says: We are urging all the people of conscience who hold dear the memory [for war heroes] and who hate fascism, who are not prepared to tolerate the mockery of our soldiers’ valour and humiliation of our Motherland, to come to the Estonian embassy and remain there until the Estonian authorities apologize to our country and our people, restore the monument and stop violating the remains of our dead.

[Aleksandr Khodorovskiy, Nashi activist] We are against this sacrilege and uphold the inalienable right of the soldiers to lay where they have fallen. We demand from the Estonian authorities give us access to the memorial, because we are not convinced that this transfer exercise will actually take place and that the remains of the dead will really be reburied.

[Vasiliy Shilenkov, captioned as Nashi commissar] We are prepared to remain here until the lady ambassador of Estonia to Russia goes back to her country.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.