By Giwa SHILE
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called on international institutions to pressure the Estonian authorities into taking action to end neo-fascist propaganda in the Baltic country.
On June 22, which marks the anniversary of the start of the Soviet Union’s Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945, a plaque commemorating Estonian army officer AlfonsRebane, who served in Nazi Germany’s Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units during World War II, was unveiled in Estonia.
“One should note the cynicism of the organizers of this shameful event, who held it on the anniversary of the start of the Great Patriotic War.
“This is nothing but an insult to the memory of the millions of people who died in the fight against fascism.
“We urge the relevant international bodies to put pressure on Tallinn in order to put an end to this open propaganda of neo-fascism in Estonia,’’ the ministry said in a statement.
In February, Russia’s Permanent Envoy to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Alexander Lukashevich said that a “creeping rehabilitation of Nazism’’ could be seen in some OSCE member states, including Estonia and Latvia.
