Free Republic

Estonia unveils Nazi war monument An Estonian town has unveiled a controversial monument to honour those who fought with Nazi forces against the Soviet Union in World War II. The monument depicts an Estonian soldier in German military uniform. The local authorities in the western town of Lihula said they wanted to honour those Estonians who had to choose between the two sides. But the Estonian Prime Minister, Juhan Parts, described the monument as a provocation. An investigation is underway into whether it could incite political hostilities. 'Less evil one' About 2,000 people attended the unveiling ceremony on Friday. "This...

Russia has warned Nato it will not tolerate the US-led military alliance stationing troops or equipment in the Baltic states once they join Nato next month. Sergei Yastrzhembsky, President Vladimir Putin's special foreign policy envoy, who was at Nato's headquarters last Friday, told the FT it would be "very negative" if the alliance had "any footprint regardless of the size" in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. "Nato should consider the national concerns of Russian policy," Mr Yastrzhembsky said. "We understand a Nato footprint in Bulgaria or Romania as bases for aviation in the fight against terrorism. It is difficult to see...

Spy plane shot down in Baltic found (Filed: 20/06/2003) A Swedish spy plane flying a mission on behalf of British intelligence which was shot down by the Russians in 1952 has been found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, ending one of the enduring mysteries of the Cold War. After a three-year search by Swedish historians it was confirmed that wreckage discovered in the sea off the country's east coast was of the DC3 shot down with its crew of eight by a Russian fighter. The aircraft was half-buried in sand. The crew's remains were not found. When the...

No Big May Day Celebrations in Lithuania TodayBy Andrew L. Jaffee, May 1, 2003 You won't find any big May Day celebrations today in downtown Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. This country suffered brutal Russian communist occupation for 46 years. How many other peoples suffered (or are still suffering) under "socialism?" Why aren't Lithuanians celebrating May Day? There are still those die-hards clinging to the Marxist dream of a proletarian paradise. Today, those dreamers are celebrating May Day. In Berlin and London today, the dreamers got violent. Strange that people in developed, democratic societies overloaded with social programs and...

If we are to believe the Moscow media, during February and the first half of March 2002, relations between the United States and Russia changed – and changed greatly – from bad to worse. The most recent issues of the leading Moscow newspapers and magazines are oversaturated with anti-American sentiments. For example, the weekly Moscow News (usually a very liberal, "pro-American and pro-democratic" magazine for intellectuals) published an article in its March 12-18 issue called "Let's put the Bush gang on trial! It is fashionable, among Russian politicians, to be anti-Western this season." The article quoted such Russian politicians as...