Russian TV Berates Estonia Over Monument Removal

In reports by two of Russia’s three main television channels on 27 April on the removal of a Red Army monument in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, that country’s authorities were berated for “an insult” to Russia. The expression was used on both Rossiya (official state TV) and Channel One (state-controlled TV). Russian officials’ angry reaction was given extensive coverage by all channels.

Rossiya TV spoke of “grave-diggers at work at this site” and Estonia’s “abnormal” behaviour. Channel One was the most critical of the three TV channels, and even invoked criticism from “British MPs” and George Galloway in particular. NTV Mir was alone in its reporting of the Estonian president’s remarks, in which the rioters were condemned as criminals whose deeds “have nothing in common with the memory of those who fell in World War II”. Finally, private Ren TV contrasted Russia’s reaction on the Estonia issue with silence on the matter of an incident in Russia itself where, when a war memorial was dismantled, the remains of the dead were lost.

NTV Mir

NTV Mir (Gazprom-owned) focused on the overnight disturbances in Tallinn. “The city is engulfed in disturbances. The quiet Estonia has seen nothing like it yet,” it proclaimed in its headlines. “In the morning, Tallinn woke up to find itself without the Bronze Soldier, after the monument to the Soviet Liberator Soldier was secretly dismantled overnight,” the headlines went on to set the tone for the reports.

The reports themselves began with a summary of the aftermath of the “mass” overnight clashes in Tallinn, with one dead and much damage to the capital’s facilities.

“According to Estonian officials, the monument was the chief irritant for the protesters, who violated public order, hence the decision to remove it so as to restore calm among the residents. In that aim, the Estonian authorities failed singularly,” the first report remarked.

In his piece from Tallinn, correspondent Dmitriy Novikov, eyewitness to the clashes, reported on the protests that followed the night’s events, with chants “Shame” heard from Estonia’s “Russian school pupils”. The overnight clashes, it added, had been preceded by “harsh” action by the Estonian police to disperse a demonstration. The report went on to show the clashes, with “the entire arsenal of special means” used by the police to disperse the rally and “lots of tear gas, rubber truncheons and rubber bullets”. Revenge was taken in Tallinn’s other areas, the report said. A youth was shown as, with a kick, he smashes a shop window. Looting ensued. In some cases, people were left hand-cuffed to lamp posts in the city’s streets by the police, unable to cope, the report said.

But the report also left room for an excerpt from Estonian President Ilves’s address to the nation following the clashes, in which he spoke of a crime and criminals whose actions “have nothing in common with the memory of those who fell in World War II”.

The second report looked at Russia’s “angry” and at times “radical” reaction, such as upper house speaker Mironov’s call for diplomatic relations with Estonia to be severed, and the removal of Estonian produce from the shelves of some shops in some Russian regions.

“It has been a long time since there has been such a concentration of words of condemnation from politicians in Moscow,” correspondent Sergey Morozov remarked. “Today legislators demanded Estonia come under fire on all fronts except for the military,” he quipped. The Russian reaction recounted ranged from remarks by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who was “more diplomatic than many” when he spoke of “abnormal” relations with Estonia, to the State Duma’s condemnation of Estonia’s “grave-diggers”.

In perhaps uncharacteristically restrained remarks, Vladimir Zhirinovskiy accepted that the situation was irreversible. “It is no use now. It has been removed, and nothing can be done about it now,” Zhirinovskiy summed up. Youth activists protested outside the Estonian embassy in Moscow.

In this report, ambassador Kaljurand defended Estonia’s actions. There has been no reaction worldwide, the report noted, except for support for Estonia from Lithuania. The report compared this situation with that in Germany, where Soviet war monuments are left alone.

“For now, it is difficult to say to what extent these calls for relations to be severed will have an effect. Those who take decisions in practice, are yet to speak on the subject,” the report summed up.

Rossiya (official state TV)

Rossiya TV’s coverage of the issue began with a restrained report from Tallinn by a correspondent, Maksim Kiselev, live. He provided an update on the day’s developments following the riots: helicopter patrols over the area; police cordons that keep people off the square; and “information” that live ammunition has been handed out to the military. As the live piece ends, an Estonian policeman makes progressively more insistent requests for the correspondent to move on.

A video report on the clashes overnight followed. Once again, the use of “the entire arsenal” of police means was remarked on. “The result was unrest the likes of which the Estonian capital has not seen before,” with “one dead, more than 40 injured and hundreds detained” and police not in control as they tried to battle “marauders”.

A Russian speakers’ party leader was on hand to blame the defence minister for his “Barbarossa” plan which had led to the riots. In the “security sweeps” that followed, the leader of an organization which protested against the removal of the monument was taken into custody, his wife critical of the police’s heavy-handedness. The latter is also indicated in its dealings with the “Russian schoolchildren” outside the Estonian parliament building, from whom the chants “Fascists!” are heard.

But it was the third report, on Russia’s reaction, that packed the heaviest punch against Estonia. In Russia, the removal of the monument “has been taken as an insult”, it said in its introduction.

In the report itself, commentator Yevgeniy Rozhkov provided an overview of reaction, from Lavrov’s warning to “not only Tallinn but also its high patrons”, to the upper house’s criticism of a lack of reaction from Brussels and its speaker’s call for ties to be severed, as well as Duma MPs, who wanted a tough response to Estonia.

There was archive footage of past celebrations of the Soviet Victory Day in Tallinn, when “thousands of Estonians flocked to the Bronze Soldier, modelled, by the way, on a native of Estonia, a Red Army soldier”. “Now, there will be grave-diggers at work at this site, for any reminder of who defeated fascism to be removed from the centre of Tallinn,” in the reporter’s words. More condemnation from Russian MPs followed. Estonians, in the meantime, “it appears do not understand”, the report summed up.

“The Estonian government spat on these values,” Lavrov concurred, and spoke of “abnormal” relations.

“It is this abnormality of behaviour by the Estonian side that Russia will want to discuss at every level,” the report said.

Channel One (state-controlled TV)

In its reports, Channel One followed the same structure – of an overview of developments in Estonia and of Russia’s reaction. The tone, however, was more critical of Estonia.

“The monument to the Soviet liberator soldier in Tallinn is no more. It has been cut into pieces and taken away in an unknown direction. Defenders of the Bronze Soldier are now faced with prosecution, with several activists arrested,” as the TV said as it introduced the segment.

In her report from Tallinn, Natalya Vasilyeva also raised the theme of “an insult”, and reported anti-government slogans by protesters. The report recounted overnight clashes, while Russian speakers lamented the move by the Estonian authorities and the way the rally was dispersed. One woman said the removal of the monument shamed Estonia.

Interviewed, a spokesman for the mayor of Tallinn said that his office took note of the fact that “some 57 per cent” of Tallinn’s residents were opposed to the move. From the Estonian president’s speech, the bit about punishment for those to blame for the riots was singled out. Meanwhile, the report added, Estonian officials wanted action against those to blame for the unrest, one move “tantamount to expulsions”.

With arrests among protesters, police cordons and helicopter patrols mentioned, “the situation is more and more reminiscent of an emergency one”, the report summed up.

In the second report on the subject, Russian ministers’ warnings of an effect on bilateral relations were recalled, as was a Duma statement. MP Konstantin Kosachev, in the Duma, suggested the “lowering” of the level of diplomatic relations. Meanwhile, Russian youth activists protested outside the Estonian embassy in Moscow. Foreign Minister Lavrov said the move was likely to affect relations, including with NATO.

Through this move, the report noted, “Estonia has shown that no- one, including even the European Union to which Estonia so aspired, is an authority so far as it is concerned”.

The news, the report said, is the talk of “every Paris cafe”. British MPs “could hardly contain themselves”, too: “No-one had expected Estonia to play such a swinish trick on the EU.” Interviewed, George Galloway was translated about his condemnation of attempts to revise history and incite nationalism. Schroeder was quoted on his criticism. Finally, there was an interview with a German senator, who notes Soviet monuments are preserved there.

“In Berlin, it would not even occur to anyone to draw a swastika on the monument to Soviet soldiers, for example,” the report summed up. “In Germany, they remember all too well what Europe lived through 60 odd years ago.”

Ren TV “24″ news

Finally, Ren TV (privately-owned TV channel), in its reporting on the subject, provided a contrast between Russia’s reaction on the subject of the Estonia monument and an event in Russia: A war memorial was dismantled in the town of Khimki, Moscow Region, to make way for new houses. Apparently, the pilots’ remains were lost in the process.

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