Tallinn - Estonia's president, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, on
Friday called on his countrymen to set aside ethnic differences in a
speech in the capital, Tallinn.
'An ethnic Russian who is a resident of Estonia is not a priori
the supporter of Russia's national policies, just as every Estonian
is not automatically a supporter of the [Andrus] Ansip government.
Citizens of democratic countries do not connect their love of country
with the person of the prime minister or president who happens to be
in power at the time,' Ilves said.
Andrus Ansip is the current prime minister of Estonia.
In what appeared to be oblique references to two prominent news
stories in Estonian current affairs, Ilves said 'Estonia can be home
to all the people who live here only if its residents care for and
protect this home, and do not try to sell it or burn it down.'
The 'sell it' reference seemed to allude to Herman Simm, an ethnic
Estonian former head of the security department at the Ministry of
Defence, who was arrested by police in September on treason charges
for allegedly selling secrets to Russia.
The phrase 'burn it down' evoked memories of April 2007, when
hundreds of ethnic Russian youths rioted in the capital, Tallinn,
following a decision to relocate a Soviet war memorial.
Ilves' call for unity is the latest in a series of initiatives
designed to defuse inter-ethnic tensions in the small Baltic
republic. In October, the Estonian government launched a campaign
entitled 'It is good to be an Estonian citizen,' designed to
encourage ethnic Russians to apply for Estonian citizenship.
Around one quarter of Estonia's population of 1.3 million is
ethnically Russian, including more than 100,000 'non-citizens', who
have resident status but no passport.
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