Pro-Kremlin youth movements besieging the Estonian embassy in Moscow for six days lifted the blockade off on Thursday night, as if upon command.
Photo: Valery Melnikov
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Russia Can’t Stand Estonian Embassy Siege Anymore
Pro-Kremlin youth movements ended on Thursday their almost-week-long siege of the Estonian embassy in Moscow, declared Nashi and Molodaya Gvardia leaders at the late-evening rally near the embassy’s walls. They explained this decision by Ambassador Marina Kaljurand’s departure from Russia. However, the Ambassador’s going away on a scheduled vacation might have served as a convenient pretext for meeting the demands of the international community: the U.S., NATO, and the EU-chairing state Germany urged Russia to stop “the inadmissible acts of violence” near Estonia’s embassy.
Activists of pro-Kremlin youth movements Nashi, United Russia’ Molodaya Gvardia, Rossiya Molodaya, and Mestnye lifted the blockade off the Estonian embassy in Moscow on Thursday night. They explained it by Ambassador Marina Kaljurand’s leaving Russia for two weeks. Nashi leader Vasily Yakemenko believes the Ambassador “fled”. “We take down the tent camp. Nazi Estonia’s ambassador left Russia,” declared Alexei Shaposhnikov, Molodaya Gvardia’s coordinator in the Central Federal District. Some 200 activists whistled and applauded. “We escorted the Ambassador all the way to the airport, watching out to prevent any possible provocations which could have been later blamed on us,” Yakemenko announced to the crowd. “Marina Kaljurand took the plane to Stockholm and left. She got really scared, and she feels ashamed. And we will pack a suitcase and send her things to her, -- Estonian sprats and cheese.” Youth leaders declared that the conflict around the Bronze Soldier united their movements, and promised to lead further struggle against Estonia all together. They plan to collect one million signatures for moving the Estonian embassy from Moscow’s center to a dormitory neighborhood on the outskirts, because “Estonians are a lingering nation, and the embassy will fit well there”.
“Thank goodness it ended at last! I couldn’t see those sophomores anymore,” confessed a policeman guarding the rally. Cold-suffering activists too were happy: the six-day picketing of the embassy ended by a dancing party right by the building, pop songs mixed with patriotic songs.
“We have been waiting for the situation to become normal. Now we will re-open the consulate,” said the Estonian embassy’s spokesman Franek Persidski. He categorically disproved the version that Kaljurand left Russia because of the six-day siege by pro-Kremlin activists. “It is a scheduled vacation which was to begin a week ago, but had to be postponed due to the events,” Persidski said.
A group of young people threw stones at the Estonian embassy on Thursday night. “We saw two. They climbed up onto the next building’s roof and began throwing stones. One stone reached its target, cracking the window-glass,” said Nashi spokesperson Anastasia Suslova. “The police, special task forces, and our activists chased after them, but the young people managed to run away.” Meanwhile, during the day, nothing foreshadowed the tent camp’s closing down. In the tent with Internet access, activists were writing in their blogs about “carrying the struggle on”; they were also complaining of bad weather, making tea in a samovar, and shouting anti-Estonia slogans.
However, the anti-Estonia actions were not over after the siege had been lifted off the embassy. Nashi activists stage the March of High-Schoolers in Moscow on Friday. They plan to gather at 4 p.m. on St. Basil’s Slope of Red Square, marching down to the EU office. Nashi have been agitating in schools for several days now, intending to gather nearly 2,000 high school students. Activists of the opposition movement ‘My’ (‘We’) counteract Nashi. ‘My’ leader Roman Dobrokhotov said that “agitation in schools is prohibited by law”, so he intends to complain to the prosecutor’s office.
Although the Russian authorities did not proclaim any economic sanctions against Estonia, regional businessmen and some companies took it upon themselves. Thus, Severstaltrans holding suspended the construction of a car-assembling factory in Estonia, which was to assemble up to 120,000 off-road cars annually (the investments into this project reach about $80 million). Akron chemical holding decided to suspend the funding of investment projects in Estonia. Bashkiria’s chain Universal-Trading stopped selling Estonian goods in its stores. Owner of Kalev confectionary Oliver Kruuda said on Thursday that “the Russian market is closed for Kalev”. According to Estonia's Aripaev, Kalev’s sales in Russia made up ˆ260,000 monthly.
Ekaterina Savina
All the Article in Russian as of May 04, 2007
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