The Baltic Tango (For Estonia)

There is this news item that got everyone's attention these past few days; the removal of a Russian(Soviet) war memorial in the capital of Tallinn, Estonia. Its provoked outrage and hate and by this point maybe even tears. Having lived in the Baltics for seven years I would like to say a few things about this event.

Russia is arguing that this monument represents the Russian(Soviet) soldiers who died liberating Estonia from Nazism. I'm calling bullshit on that. Russia and Germany were bedfellows before they were enemies and they'd already worked out who was going to get Estonia; and the winner would have been Russia. Russia can tell the rest of the world that they liberated Estonia from Germany, but what they don't tell you is that they didn't leave until 1991. That makes it an occupation, which is the same thing as the Nazis were up to. Yes I just compared the Nazis to the Soviets(Russians) and I'll do it again if I have to.

The next question then is who was worse? I'll go ahead and say the Soviets. In the end due to their failed communism and autocratic state, more Estonians(and Baltic people) than under German rule in World War II. Then after that there is the question of Russian people in the Baltic and their treatment. First off in most countries and Europe as well as the United States, a person isn't permitted to attain citizenship without being able to speak the language. Most Russians in the Baltics have showed a complete lack of interest in integrating in their new countries and when they were part of the Soviet Union they showed no interest at all in their new homes. The Russians that live in the Baltics were mostly imported after World War II. This is a very old trick by a conquering nation, you add your people to the country's demographics and that way prevent it from becoming a terror hot spot. Of course you have to make room for these people so you send the locals to Siberia.

In the end what really is amazing is that there are still Soviet(Russian) monuments left in the country at all. Maybe even more amazing is the Baltic peoples ability to forgive and not throw the former conquerors out of the country. If a sovereign nation wants to pull down a monument to occupation and near genocide then they have that right and the west and the Russian government have no right to say anything about it.