AP News, May 4th, 2007
Estonia reopened its embassy in Moscow on Friday following a three-day protest over the Baltic nation's decision to move a Soviet war memorial from central Tallinn.
Pro-Kremlin youth groups had staged raucous rallies outside the embassy this week, pulling the Estonian flag down and throwing rocks at windows. Diplomatic families who lived in the building were flown back to Tallinn, and Ambassador Marina Kaljurand suddenly left on vacation.
The protesters left the embassy on Thursday, ending a virtual siege of the building that had drawn sharp criticism from the European Union and NATO. However, hundreds of students marched to the EU's representative office in Moscow on Friday to protest the removal of the war memorial.
Ethnic Russians also have rioted in Estonia over the removal of the Bronze Soldier on April 27, which they see as the latest discriminatory move by ethnic Estonians since the Baltic nation broke away from the Soviet Union.
The monument, which commemorates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, was put in an Estonian military cemetery this week. The remains of 12 Soviet Red Army soldiers found at the original site of the statue will be reburied at the cemetery at a later time.
The consular section of the embassy had been closed since Wednesday, but Estonia's Foreign Ministry said it was reopened on Friday.
Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said Estonia was monitoring the situation and again urged Russia to comply "completely" with the Vienna Convention concerning diplomatic premises and diplomats.
Meanwhile, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves will visit Washington next month and talk with President Bush about regional and international issues, press secretary Tony Snow said Friday. Snow did not specifically mention the standoff with Russia.
