US congress passes resolution supporting Estonia

  • 2007-06-06
  • from wire reports
The US House of Representatives passed a unanimous resolution on Tuesday supporting Estonia in their increased tensions with Russia over the removal of the Bronze Soldier. The resolution condemned the violence in Tallinn that followed the removal of the statue.

The resolution was very carefully worded so as not to directly condemn Russia, but still mentioned Russia's refusal of a request by the Estonian government for cooperation during the crisis.

Despite the careful wording of the resolution, Democratic Representative Tom Lantos, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was highly critical of Russia in his speech leading up to the vote. "Today, we in Congress join our friends in Europe in expressing our strong disapproval of the unjustified and unacceptable Russian attacks against Estonia," he said.

The US Senate has also passed a resolution in support of Estonia and of similar content on May 3.

The resolutions are non-binding on US foreign policy.