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Friday, 1 December 2006, 12:54 GMT

Russia and Estonia in Soviet spat

Hammer and sickle Russia has protested about plans by Estonia to criminalise displays of Soviet symbols.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said it was "blasphemous" to equate the hammer and sickle with Nazi emblems.

The Estonian government has put a bill before parliament calling for fines or jail terms of up to three years for those who display such symbols.

Estonia was occupied by the Nazis in World War II and then ruled by Moscow for five decades.

Russia denies the Soviet years amounted to an "occupation" of Estonia.

War veterans in the large Russian minority in Estonia often wave red Soviet flags when marking Soviet-era anniversaries.

The Baltic republic became independent in 1991 and is a member of both Nato and the EU.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said on Thursday that "recently the Estonian side has been obstinately taking provocative steps aimed at seriously aggravating our relations".

"The Estonian authorities are continuing their blasphemous attempts to rewrite the history, bracketing Nazi crimes with the feat of the Soviet people, who made a decisive contribution to the liberation of Europe from fascism," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as saying.



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Related to this story:
Baltic victims of USSR remembered (14 Jun 06 |  Europe )
Baltic honours Soviet opponents (13 Jan 06 |  Europe )
Country profile: Estonia (30 Apr 06 |  Country profiles )
Latvia to delve into Soviet past (02 Dec 05 |  Europe )
Leaders mourn Soviet wartime dead (09 May 05 |  Europe )
Thorny legacy of 'Soviet Man' (09 May 05 |  Europe )

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