The City of Tallinn delegation, led by Mayor Edgar Savisaar, on Sept. 11, met in Moscow with leaders of United Russia, the State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov and the chairman of the State Duma's Committee on Foreign Affairs Konstantin Kossatchov, reports news agency LETA. Negotiations between Tallinn's delegation and the mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, were also conducted. Agreements were achieved on future co-operation between Moscow and Tallinn, as well as between the Center Party and the United Russia party. Savisaar raised issues of co-operation in the field of transit and of the need to open the markets of Russia's major cities for the production output of Estonian farmers. According to United Russia's faction in State Duma, both Gryzlov and Savisaar stated that revision of history, including the history of the Second World War, is unacceptable. "We will act strictly against attempts to consider fascism and the regime in the Soviet Union as equal," stated the Duma Speaker. Discussions also included talks on the Russian-speaking residents in Estonia and their voting rights.
The international mine-clearance operation Open Spirit turned up 90 explosive devices in the Baltic sea, 60 of which have been deactivated, reports news agency LETA. The most mines - 52 - were found in the vicinity of Naissaare Island. The rarest finds were a naval mine of Russian origin, 132 years old, and a German mine with a wooden shell from the Second World War. "The most important aspect of the operation is that we can be certain of the safety of the surveyed shipping routes and anchoring areas," said the chief of the operation and of the Estonian Navy Igor Schvede. The mine-clearance vessels and divers surveyed 67 square miles, or 120 square kilometers. The Baltic sea, particularly the Gulf of Finland, is considered one of the most mine-riddled maritime areas in the world. During the world wars, more than 150,000 naval mines are estimated to have been thrown into the Baltic, 80,000 into the Gulf of Finland.
