In a harsh statement issued on Monday, Russia's foreign ministry called the unveiling of a monument commemorating Estonians who fought in the German army during World War II a "disgraceful act". It urged NATO and the European Union to take notice and said that the monument, which was unveiled last week in the Estonian town of Lihula, was part of an increasingly visible process of lionizing Estonian volunteers who fought alongside the Nazis against Soviet troops. The monument, financed by Estonian war veterans, features a sculpture of an Estonian soldier and a plaque with the writing "To Estonian men who fought from 1940 to 1945 against Bolshevism and for the restoration of Estonian independence."
The Russian foreign ministry said Estonia's recent accession to NATO and the EU raised the question of how Brussels viewed the increasing activity in Estonia of former fascist henchmen. Tensions between Russia and the Baltic states over the World War II era remain high, and Russian officials have repeatedly accused Estonia and neighboring Latvia of persecuting former Soviet officials while indirectly praising the Nazis. The Estonian monument has also been criticized by Russian Jewish leaders, who last year decried "the rehabilitation of Nazi criminals" in Estonia and Latvia.
