Despite increased police presence has occurred in the Estonian capital of Tallinn in the second successive night of violent protests against the removal of a Soviet war memorial.
In the clashes between pro-Russian demonstrators and police were injured, according to the authorities at least 60 people, including six policemen. About 550 rioters were arrested. Also in the city Johvi in the east there were riots.
According to the authorities the rioters attacked the police with bottles and stones, overturned cars and smashed Windows. The police used tear gas and water cannons. Adolescents were again looted shops, the police reported. Most of the rioters are, according to eyewitnesses Russian-born Estonians. This population represents about 25 percent of about 1.35 million inhabitants of the Baltic state. From the City to the cemetery
The riots had developed on Thursday in protest against the controversial removal of a Russian war memorial. In riots in the early hours of Friday, a 19-year-old youth was killed.
The bronze statue in honor of Soviet soldiers during the Second World War is to be moved from the city center into a graveyard. Russia and the Russian minority in the Baltic States have criticized the project as a desecration of the Soviet soldiers who drove the Nazis out of Estonia. For many Estonians however, remembered the monument to the 50 years of Soviet occupation. Estonia became independent in 1991 and is now a member of the European Union and NATO. Since then, relations with Russia are strained.
According to the authorities the rioters attacked the police with bottles and stones, overturned cars and smashed Windows. The police used tear gas and water cannons. Adolescents were again looted shops, the police reported. Most of the rioters are, according to eyewitnesses Russian-born Estonians. This population represents about 25 percent of about 1.35 million inhabitants of the Baltic state.
The riots had developed on Thursday in protest against the controversial removal of a Russian war memorial. In riots in the early hours of Friday, a 19-year-old youth was killed.
The bronze statue in honor of Soviet soldiers during the Second World War is to be moved from the city center into a graveyard. Russia and the Russian minority in the Baltic States have criticized the project as a desecration of the Soviet soldiers who drove the Nazis out of Estonia. For many Estonians however, remembered the monument to the 50 years of Soviet occupation. Estonia became independent in 1991 and is now a member of the European Union and NATO. Since then, relations with Russia are strained.
jba / dpa / Reuters
original here:
http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/estland_aid_54797.html
original here:
http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/estland_aid_54797.html
0 comments:
Post a Comment