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Anti-Estonian sentiment generally describesdislike,discrimination and/orhate of the/against/towardsEstonian people or theRepublic of Estonia and is typically propagated by the Russian government and media.
Christopher Walker and Robert Orttung allege thatKremlin-controlled sectors of theRussian media took advantage of anti-Estonian sentiment during Estonia's 2007 relocation of theBronze Soldier, a Soviet-era monument to Russia's victory over Germany in theSecond World War, originally called "Monument to the Liberators ofTallinn".[1] At various times following Estonia's independence from the Soviet Union, Russian national television has effectively shaped anti-Estonian sentiment[2] with the state-controlled media redoubling their anti-Estonian campaign after specific events that displease Moscow.[3]
According toLilia Shevtsova, Senior Associate at the Russian Domestic Politics and Political Institutions Program Chair of theCarnegie Moscow Center, anti-Estonian sentiment was intentionally escalated by Kremlin in its "search for enemies", however she also notes that even Russian democrats took Estonia's removal of the statue immediately beforeVictory Day to be an affront to the Russian national honour.[4]
The Russian government used its state controlled media to propagate anti-Estonian sentiment in order to encourage ethnic Russian outrage, leading tocoordinated waves of cyber attacks against Estonian internet infrastructure.[5] The President of EstoniaToomas Hendrik Ilves stated at the time: "We are witnesses to the information war against Estonia which already reminds of an ideological aggression".[6]
An anti-Estonianpejorativeneologism,eSStonia, appeared in theRussian media, onRunet, and at the street protests in the midst of theBronze Soldier controversy in 2007. The term, aportmanteau ofEstonia andSS, is intended to portray Estonia as aneo-Nazi state.[7]
In April 2007, some participants protested outside theEmbassy of Estonia in Moscow, organized by the Russian youth organisationNashi, carrying signs stating "Wanted. The Ambassador of the Fascist State of eSStonia" (Russian:«Разыскивается посол фашистского государства эSSтония»), referring to the then-Ambassador of Estonia to RussiaMarina Kaljurand.[8] In May 2007, members of theYoung Guard of United Russia picketed the Consulate-General of Estonia inSaint Petersburg holding up pickets with slogans such as "eSStonia–the shame of Europe!" (Russian:«эSSтония — позор Европы!»).[9] The use ofeSStonia in protests by Nashi and the Young Guard determined the head of theSaint Petersburg youth branch ofYabloko to file a complaint withYury Chaika, theProsecutor General of Russia, asking for an investigation into a possible breach of Article 282: Incitement of National, Racial, or Religious Enmity of theCriminal Code of Russia.[8][10]
In November 2007,Komsomolskaya Pravda, the biggest sellingdaily 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" (Russian:Я не еду в эSSтонию).[7][11][12]The Economist, in its editorial, called the term "a cheap jibe" by spelling the country's nameeSStonia,PresidentIlves asIlveSS andPrime MinisterAnsip asAnSSip, while noting the coining of the termNashism 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.[13]
In 2007, as a response to the possibility of removal of World War II graves (in the context of theBronze Soldier controversy) RussianState Duma issued a statement accusing "the Estonian government's intention to continue its course of representing Nazism in a heroic light and justifying its ideology".[14]In Russia, the youth movementNashi has been noted for anti-Estonian sentiments among its members, oftenframed as "anti-fascism activities".[15]
