Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed on Friday Moscow's indignation over the reinstallment of a monument devoted to Estonians fighting on the side of the Nazis during World War II
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th September, 2018) Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed on Friday Moscow's indignation over the reinstallment of a monument devoted to Estonians fighting on the side of the Nazis during World War II.
On Sunday, the Estonian Conservative People's Party (EKRE) held a ceremony in the town of Lihula commemorating the dismantlement of the memorial devoted to the Nazi-affiliated Estonians. An exact recreation of the original monument was erected for the ceremony.
"The reinstallment of this infamous monument, dismantled in 2004, to the 20th Estonian division of Waffen SS on September 2 in Lihula can not but cause outrage," Zakharova said.
The spokeswoman added that Estonia was pursing a policy of encouraging Nazi ideology and urged the international community to pay attention to Tallin's multiple attempts to rewrite the outcomes of World War II.
The monument featuring a soldier in the SS uniform was first erected in 2002 in the Estonian town of Parnu, but was soon removed amid protests of the town residents. In 2004, the memorial was reinstalled in Lihula at the initiative of the Estonian veterans who fought alongside the Nazi and then dismantled again following requests of the international community.
Russia has repeatedly criticized Tallin for its tolerant stance on the surging neo-fascist movements in Estonia and claimed that the Baltic state rehabilitates Nazism in an attempt to distance itself from its Soviet past.
