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Anti-Estonian sentiment generally describes dislike or hate of the Estonian people or the Republic of Estonia. Such sentiment is not widespread; it is found most particularly within the Kremlin controlled sectors of contemporary Russian media. According to Lilia Shevtsova, Senior Associate at the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program Chair of the Carnegie Moscow Center, anti-Estonian sentiment is intentionally escalated by Kremlin in its "search for enemies".
According to the President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves "We are witnesses to the information war against Estonia which already reminds of an ideological aggression".

Media accounts

Anti-Estonian sentiment is present among many in Russian politics, as well as among a portion of Russian people. The seeds of a number of recent incidents in Estonian-Russian relations can be traced back to exaggerated anti-Estonian discourse in some Russian-language mass media. The controversy over relations has featured in numerous media accounts.

Accusations of discrimination of minorities

Recurrences of anti-Estonian sentiment often occur in accompaniment with media claims of anti-Russian sentiment among Estonian people or government. Typically, such claims allege political or economic discrimination of ethnic Russian or Russophone minorities in Estonia. This kind of accusations tend to run down fast outside the Russian Federation, but tend to linger on among Russia's residents. Even baseless anti-Estonian accusations are generally not countered in major Russian media channels. A poll conducted in April 2007, has found that 59% of Russia's residents agree with the statement "Estonian authorities discriminate against Russophones in Estonia and deliberately provoke conflicts with Russia".

Most claims of anti-Russian sentiment in Estonia and Latvia regarding supposed political or economic discrimination against the large Russian minorities in these countries are made by Russian authorities, media and activists. Expatriate Estonians have also issue protests. Such accusations have become more frequent during times of political disagreements between Russia and these countries, and waned when the disagreements have been resolved.

Accusations of sympathies with Nazism

One common approach of exaggerated anti-Estonian sentiment is to make accusations that Estonia as a country, or particularly Estonain celebrities or politicians, are Nazi-minded. One recent spin in Russian media displayed Rein Lang, the Estonian minister of justice, as an open neo-Nazi, based on a performance of (ironically, an anti-fascist) drama titled Adolf on his birthday party.

eSStonia

An anti-Estonian pejorative neologism, eSStonia, appeared in the Russian media, on Runet, and at the street protests in the midst of the Bronze Soldier controversy in 2007. The term, a portmanteau of Estonia and SS, is intended to portray Estonia as a fascist or neo-Nazi state..

In April 2007, some participants in the protested outside the Embassy of Estonia in Moscow organized by the Russian youth organisation Nashi carried signs stating "Wanted. The Ambassador of the Fascist State of eSStonia" (Template:Lang-ru), referring to the then-Ambassador of Estonia to Russia Marina Kaljurand. In May 2007, members of the Young Guard of United Russia picketed the Consulate-General of Estonia in Saint Petersburg holding up pickets with slogans such as "eSStonia–the shame of Europe!" (Template:Lang-ru). The use of eSStonia in protests by Nashi and the Young Guard determined the head of the Saint Petersburg youth branch of Yabloko to file a complaint with Yury Chaika, the Prosecutor General of Russia, asking for an investigation into a possible breach of Article 282 Incitement of National, Racial, or Religious Enmity of the Criminal Code of Russia.

In November 2007, Komsomolskaya Pravda, the biggest selling daily newspaper in Russia, ran a campaign asking readers to boycott travel to Estonia, Estonian goods and services. The campaign run under the slogan "I don't go to eSStonia" (Template:Lang-ru). The Economist, in its editorial, called the term "a cheap jibe" by spelling the country's name eSStonia, President Ilves as IlveSS and Prime Minister Ansip as AnSSip, while noting the coining of the term Nashism to describe what they regard as the populist, pro-authoritarian and ultra-nationalist philosophy of Nashi, a pro-Kremlin youth movement, as an encouraging countermeasure.

Bronze Soldier of Tallinn

In April 2007, a long-standing controversy in Estonian politics, the question of whether the Bronze Soldier was a grave marker or merely a monument, came to a conclusion that archaeological digs would be carried through to determine whether any war dead are buried under the monument in the center of Tallinn; and if so, they would be relocated to a cemetery along with the monument — which would then serve as a headstone — and if not, the monument would be dismantled and donated to a museum. Immediately follwoing this decision, a number of rumours of anti-Estonian character arose in Russia and Estonia, some of which traceable to the Night Watch, a pressure group, and others to the Nashi movement in Russia. Specifically, false rumours were spread that

• the monument would be deliberately and irretrievably destroyed;
• the bronze statue would be, or had been, melted down;
• the bodies of the war dead would be excavated in a clumsy way (such as via the use of a bulldozer), and then thrown to trash, etc.

Other unsubstantiated rumours arose during the ensuing riots in downtown Tallinn, and during the Nashi blockade of the Estonian embassy in Russia.

See also

• Estonia–Russia relations
• Discrimination of ethnic minorities in Estonia

References

1. Городской телеканал, 5 May 2007: В Ярославле эстонцев приравняли к собакам
2. Trud, 5 May 2007: НЕ ЕДИМ, НЕ ПЬЕМ, НЕ ЕЗДИМ
3. lenta.ru, 17 May 2007: Без объявления войны
4. Christopher Walker and Robert Orttung, Russia: Putinism's Impact On The Neighbors, RFE/RL, February 12, 2008
5. Shevtsova, Lilia (2007). Russia--lost in Transition. Carnegie Endowment. p. 200. ISBN 0870032364. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
6. Statement made by the President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves, 30.04.2007 Sinisalu, Arnold. "Propaganda, Information War and the Estonian-Russian Treaty Relations: Some Aspects of International Law". Juridica International. Retrieved 2009-04-04. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
7. Socor, Vladimir (26 January 2007). "Moscow stung by Estonian ban on totalitarianism's symbols". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
8. International Centre for Defence Studies: [tt_news]=4&tx_ttnews[backPid]=71&cHash=f1a5f211bc Russia’s Involvement in the Tallinn Disturbances
9. Helsingin Sanomat May 6, 2007: Virtual harassment, but for real by Miska Rantanen
10. The Moscow News: Russian Retailers Boycott Estonian Goods by Sergei Dmitriyev
11. China Worker June 16, 2007: US-Russia tensions escalate by Rob Jones
12. Information Centre of Fenno-Ugric People August 2, 2005: Estonian students caught in the wheels of Russia's internal politics
13. Pravda April 7, 2007: Estonian Neo-Nazis regret Hitler's defeat in WWII
14. Jewish Times June 21, 2007: Estonian Jews Silent Over Statue Dispute by Matt Siegel
15. Johnson's Russia List/Interfax May 16, 2007: Removal Of War Monument Was Estonia's Way To Show Independence — Premier
16. Reason Magazine May 14, 2007: Who Liberates the Liberators? The power struggle over an old Soviet war memorial by Cathy Young
17. The U.S.–Baltic Foundation: USBF voices concern over the Russian bullying of Estonia
18. NCSJ/New York Times May 5, 2007: Friction Between Estonia and Russia Ignites Protests in Moscow by Steven Lee Myers
19. Левада-Центр April 26, 2007: Российско-эстонский конфликт...?
20. Open letter of the Estonian Central Council in Canada to Prime Minister of Canada May 1, 2007: Open letter
21. Russia and the Baltic States: Not a Case of "Flawed" History
22. Postimees 25 July 2007: Naši suvelaagrit «ehib» Hitleri vuntsidega Paeti kujutav plakat
23. "Law Assembly": The policy of discrimination of the national minorities in Latvia and Estonia
24. Russia and the Baltic States: Not a Case of "Flawed" History by Mikhail Demurin, a long-time diplomat of USSR and later Russian Federation, printed in Russia in Global Affairs
25. ^ Postimees July 6, 2007: Rein Langi juubelipidu äratas huvi Vene meedias
26. ^ Eesti Päevaleht July 6, 2007: Vene meedia haaras Rein Langi sünnipäeva mõnuga hambusse, edited by Tuuli Aug
27. Silver, Joseph (December 2007). "Technology and Culture in Modern Russia" (PDF). Naval Postgraduate School/Defense Technical Information Center: 61. Retrieved 2008-01-25. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) Quote:Note the altered spelling of Estonia: “eSStonia” makes a reference to the Nazi Waffen SS units of World War II, effectively accusing Estonia of fascism.
28. ^ "If you're a real Russian, don't have any fun in Tallinn". Tallinn: Baltic Times. 13 November 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
29. ^ Template:Ru icon Boronov, Alexander (21 June 2007). "Между прокремлевскими движениями посеяли рознь". Saint Petersburg: Kommersant. Retrieved 2008-12-27. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
30. Template:Ru icon "«Молодая Гвардия» подсчитала ненужные эстонские товары". Saint Petersburg: Rosbalt. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
31. Template:Ru icon "Генпрокуратура проверяет «Наших» и «Молодую гвардию» на экстремизм". Novaya Gazeta. 21 June 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
32. Template:Ru icon Krasnikov, Nikita (6 November 2007). "Бронзового Cолдата перенесли за счет русских туристов!". Komsomolskaya Pravda. Retrieved 2008-12-27. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
33. Hõbemägi, Toomas (19 December 2007). "Fewer Russian tourists to stay in Tallinn for New Year's Eve". Baltic Business News. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
34. "An ineffective bully". Economist. 10 May 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
35. Washington Post May 3, 2007: Protesters in Moscow Harass Estonian Envoy Over Statue
36. tallinn-life.com: [http://www.tallinn-life.com/tallinn/estonian-russian-relations The Last Soviet in Tallinn: Saga of the 'Bronze Soldier']

Further reading

• Regnum: Estonian Security Police annual report: REGNUM is leading in anti-Estonian information war
• 'Understandings of Russian Foreign Policy' by Ted Hopf
• 'History, Memory, and Identity in Post-Soviet Estonia: The End of a Collective Farm' by Sigrid Rausing
• 'Non-violence in ethnic relations in Estonia' by Ain Haas of Indiana University, published in Journal of Baltic Studies, Volume 27, Issue 1 (Spring 1996), pages 47–76
• 'Ethnic relations in Estonia, 1991' by Rein Taagepera of University of California, published in Journal of Baltic Studies, Volume 23, Issue 2 (Summer 1992), pages 121–132
• 'Ethnic Conflict in the Post-Soviet World: Case Studies and Analysis' by Leokadia M Drobizheva et al.: chapter 5, 'Ethnopolitical Conflict in Estonia' by Klara Hallik

External links

• The Raw Story/AFP April 28, 2007: Putin anger as Estonia row boils
• Sveriges Radio/Komsomolskaya Pravda May 11, 2007: Anti Estonian hysteria in northwest Russia (article contains incorrect translation from Russian)

• Anti-national sentiment
• Estonia–Russia relations