TALLINN - A government commission established to draw up an objective evaluation of Estonia's recent history has come under fire for shoddy performance, though Prime Minister Andrus Ansip has backed up the commission, calling its work "satisfactory."
The controversy arose when Ansip himself said May 16 that the commission would soon wrap up its work, fuelling speculation that the government was unhappy with the commission.
"As far as I know, the commission has been unable to cope with its tasks," former Prime Minister Juhan Parts told the Postimees newspaper.
Marko Mihkelson, deputy chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said that the commission's chairman, Paul-Eerik Rummo, had demonstrated "an absolute inability to lead such a commission and achieve a result."
Both Parts and Mihkelson are members of the Res Publica party, which was recently left out of the national government by the Reform Party, to which Rummo, who is also population minister, belongs.
Ansip waved off the criticism. He was quoted as saying, "I am satisfied with both the commission's proposals, as well as with the constant efforts of our diplomats to make Estonia's history known abroad."
The prime minister said that examining recent history and informing the public about the commission's findings should be continued in the future and that the commission's proposals should be implemented.
The commission was set up in October last year after the government removed a controversial World War II monument erected in a cemetery in the western town of Lihula. In the meantime, the commission's long-term goal was to persuade the international community to condemn the crimes of the communist regime.
"The commission has mostly completed its work," Rummo told the Postimees.
Even Mihkelson was categorically against disbanding the commission. "Over recent weeks a major shift has taken place in the way of thinking and the mentality of Western countries," he said. "The topic is very important, and we must consider our actions thoroughly. For the government to be able to act in such a manner, there has to be a coordinating center."
He suggested that instead of disbanding the commission, the government should place it under the auspices of the foreign minister.
