Estonian-Russian relations to remain icy for long - Duma panel chief

  • 2006-11-20
  • By TBT staff
TALLINN - Relations between Estonia and Russia are set to remain icy for a long time, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the Russian Duma - the lower house of parliament - Konstantin Kosachev has told an Estonian newspaper.
In an interview with Eesti Paevalet, Kosachev said one of the reasons preventing relations from improving was the question of the removal of the Bronze Soldier. The Estonian parliament is currently considering a bill which would give the Government the power to remove Soviet monuments.
"In my opinion it marks the apex of cynicism when a status of legitimacy is granted to the destruction of monuments erected to Soviet soldiers. They came to salvage, not to enslave," Kosachev said.