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Anti-Estonian sentiment generally describes dislike or hate of the Estonian people or the Republic of Estonia. 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".

Media accounts

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

Russia has used disinformation campaigns and international institutions as platforms for accusations of discrimination against minorities, aggravating inter-ethnic tensions in a way that worksed against the country's integration policies. 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. 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

In 2007, as a response to the possibility of removal of WWII graves (in the context of the Bronze Soldier controversy) Russian State 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". In Russia, the youth movement Nashi has been noted for anti-Estonian sentiments among its members; often, it is framed as anti-fascism activities.

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 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.

2007 Bronze Soldier issue

Christopher Walker and Robert Orttung allege that Kremlin-controlled sectors of the Russian media took advantage of anti-Estonian sentiment during Estonia's 2007 relocation of the Bronze Soldier, a Soviet-era statue "Monument to the Liberators of Tallinn" during the Second World War.

The Russian government used its state controlled media to propagate anti-Estonian sentiment in order to fan the flames of ethnic Russian outrage, leading to coordinated waves of cyber attacks against Estonian internet infrastructure during the 2007 cyberattacks on Estonia. As the President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves stated at the time "We are witnesses to the information war against Estonia which already reminds of an ideological aggression".

See also

• Anti-Russian sentiment
• Estonia–Russia relations
• Russian influence operations in Estonia

References

1. Shevtsova, Lilia (2007). Russia--lost in Transition. Carnegie Endowment. p. 200. ISBN 0870032364. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
2. Socor, Vladimir (26 January 2007). "Moscow stung by Estonian ban on totalitarianism's symbols". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 2009-02-12.
3. International Centre for Defence Studies: [tt_news]=4&tx_ttnews[backPid]=71&cHash=f1a5f211bc Russia’s Involvement in the Tallinn Disturbances
4. Helsingin Sanomat May 6, 2007: Virtual harassment, but for real by Miska Rantanen
5. The Moscow News: Russian Retailers Boycott Estonian Goods by Sergei Dmitriyev
6. China Worker June 16, 2007: US-Russia tensions escalate by Rob Jones
7. Information Centre of Fenno-Ugric People August 2, 2005: Estonian students caught in the wheels of Russia's internal politics
8. Pravda April 7, 2007: Estonian Neo-Nazis regret Hitler's defeat in WWII
9. Jewish Times June 21, 2007: Estonian Jews Silent Over Statue Dispute by Matt Siegel
10. Johnson's Russia List/Interfax May 16, 2007: Removal Of War Monument Was Estonia's Way To Show Independence — Premier
11. Reason Magazine May 14, 2007: Who Liberates the Liberators? The power struggle over an old Soviet war memorial by Cathy Young
12. The U.S.–Baltic Foundation: USBF voices concern over the Russian bullying of Estonia
13. NCSJ/New York Times May 5, 2007: Friction Between Estonia and Russia Ignites Protests in Moscow by Steven Lee Myers
14. Vetik, Raivo (2011). The Russian Second Generation in Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve: The TIES Study in Estonia. Amsterdam University Press. p. 167. ISBN 9789089642509. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
15. Russia and the Baltic States: Not a Case of "Flawed" History
16. Postimees 25 July 2007: Naši suvelaagrit «ehib» Hitleri vuntsidega Paeti kujutav plakat
17. "Law Assembly": The policy of discrimination of the national minorities in Latvia and Estonia
18. 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
19. "Estonia "ignores" Russian accusations as graves row grows"
20. "Estonia dismisses Russian charge it glorifies Nazism"
21. ekspress.ee
22. ^ "If you're a real Russian, don't have any fun in Tallinn". Tallinn: Baltic Times. 13 November 2007. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
23. ^ 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)
24. Template:Ru icon ""Молодая Гвардия" подсчитала ненужные эстонские товары". Saint Petersburg: Rosbalt. 7 May 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
25. Template:Ru icon "Генпрокуратура проверяет "Наших" и "Молодую гвардию" на экстремизм". Novaya Gazeta. 21 June 2007. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
26. 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)
27. Hõbemägi, Toomas (19 December 2007). "Fewer Russian tourists to stay in Tallinn for New Year's Eve". Baltic Business News. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
28. "An ineffective bully". Economist. 10 May 2007. Retrieved 2008-12-27.
29. Eiki, Berg (2009). Identity and foreign policy: Baltic-Russian relations and European integration. Ashgate Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-7546-7329-3. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
30. Wertsch, James V. (2008). "Collective Memory and Narrative Templates". Social Research: an International Quarterly. 75 (1): 133–156.
31. James V., Wertsch. "A Clash of Deep Memories". Profession (8). MLA Journals: 46–53. ISSN 0740-6959.
32. Christopher Walker and Robert Orttung, "Russia: Putinism's Impact On The Neighbors". RFE/RL, February 12, 2008
33. Mueller, Milton L. (2010). Networks and States: The Global Politics of Internet Governance. MIT Press. p. 23. ISBN 9780262014595. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
34. 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)

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)

Template:Cultural criticism

• Anti-national sentiment
• Estonia–Russia relations