TALLINN - Following a week of moves and counter-moves by parties trying to influence the fate of the controversial Bronze Soldier in central Tallinn, independent voices of dissent have for the first time been raised in Estonia protesting the planned removal of the monument.
On April 23, a group of Estonian professors sent a letter to Defense Minister Jaak Aaviksoo recommending that the Tonismagi site be maintained as a memorial to Soviet soldiers.
The 12 professors from various fields of study and four different universities said removing the monument would create further internal and international unrest.
Until now, opposition to the monument's removal has come through propaganda-laden and inflammatory statements from Russia, or from Russian-pandering politicians within Estonia.
The professors' letter represents the first independent, apolitical and credible statement in favor of keeping the monument. All the signatories are native Estonians.
One of the signatories, Tallinn University of Technology professor of public administration Rainer Kattel, said the removal would be "harmful."
"It is going to have a negative impact on all sides," Kattel told The Baltic Times. "There is no need to remove it. The problems surrounding this issue have been created by the government."
Kattel said the signatories believed Russian-speaking residents had a right to gather at the site on May 9.
"They have a different understanding of history, and it is their right to interpret it their way. It would be normal to leave the monument there."
Kattel said the group of professors did not expect to change the government's course, but wanted to raise an independent voice of dissent.
The letter is also signed by Tallinn University Professor Emeritus Mati Hint, TU Professors Martin Ehala, Mati Heidmets, Aleksander Pulver, Rein Ruutsoo, Rein Veidemann and Raivo Vetik, Tartu University Professors Raul Eamets, Juri Talvet and Peeter Torop, and Helsinki University Professor Tiit Hennoste.
In the letter, the academics say there is "no justified hope that differences can be reduced or historical justice established" by the removal of the monument.
"The problem is not in the Bronze Soldier's location, but in widely different, and in many respects, contradictory treatments of history. There are widely different understandings concerning developments in the 20th century even among Estonians. Conciliation with our own history is long and difficult work," the letter reads.
"Estonia's long-term interest is internal stability and being taken seriously internationally. Removal of the Bronze Soldier will damage both."
The professors said such a move would "seriously damage the integration process" and would create an "embarrassing situation to everyone who must explain this decision to the world."
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry said they would push ahead with plans to excavate the Tonismagi site to discover what remains are buried there.
"We have to find out how many there are. If something is found, then a decision will be made about what to do next," the spokesman said.
There was no set timeline on the excavations, he said, despite local media reports speculating that digging would commence before May 9.
"By Geneva conventions, it is unacceptable that the resting place of soldiers is under a trolleybus station. They must be moved to a more suitable place," the spokesman said.
Controversy continues to surround the monument. On April 22 Russian activists formed a human chain around the statue, while other pickets have been planned at the site.
And on April 23, the Russian Foreign Ministry delivered a note to the Estonian Ambassador in Moscow formally expressing opposition to the excavation plans.
