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Week Ending June 8, 2006

H.RES.397 Condemning violence in Estonia and attacks on Estonia's embassies in 2007, and expressing solidarity with the Government and the people of Estonia.

<< Click flag for map and country data, Estonia

The resolution preamble describes an April 27, 2007 incident in Tallinn, Estonia when the Estonian Government relocated the Bronze Soldier Soviet monument from central Tallinn to a nearby military cemetery.

The effort drew a crowd of 1,000 who broke into a riot injuring 153 people and causing the death of one from stabbing. Stores were looted as were surrounding villages as the riot escalated including cyber-attacks on official communication lines.

The next day the Estonian Embassy in Moscow was surrounded and suffered violent attacks.

Two days later, representatives of Duma, Russia’s version of the House of Representatives officially stated that the Government of Estonia must step down.

On May 2^nd the Estonian Ambassador to Russia was attacked by youth gangs during a press conference as was the Swedish Ambassador to the Russian Federation. Attacks on Estonian Embassies through out Russia, Sweden and Norway followed.

The attacks were seen by Estonia as representing a sovereign state under heavy attack.

The House resolves that the Soviet Union has conducted an illegal decades-long occupation of Estonia and expresses strong support for the sovereign state and condemns specifically the violence, attacks and threats.

More resolution below…

Sponsor:  Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL-19^th)

Vote: Passed House 412 to 0 June 5, 2007 (RC 426)

Cost to the taxpayers: No discernible cost

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Whereas, on April 27, 2007, the Bronze Soldier Soviet monument in central Tallinn was moved to a prominent location in the Garrison Military Cemetery as a result of a decision by the Government of Estonia;

Whereas the Government of Estonia communicated its reasons for this decision to the Government of the Russian Federation and offered to work with Russian officials during the process, which the Russian officials declined to do;

Whereas, on April 27, 2007, a crowd of more than 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the site of the memorial and riots broke out across Tallinn;

Whereas more than 153 people were injured as a result of the riots, and one died as a result of stabbing by another rioter;

Whereas several stores in Tallinn and surrounding villages were looted as a result of the riots, and a statue of an Estonian general was set on fire;

Whereas, since April 27, 2007, the Government of Estonia has reported several cyber-attacks on its official lines of communication, including those of the Office of the President;

Whereas, on April 28, 2007, and in days following, the Embassy of Estonia in Moscow was surrounded by angry protesters who demanded the resignation of the Government of Estonia, tore down the flag of Estonia from the Embassy building, and subjected Embassy officials inside the building to violence and vandalism;

Whereas, on April 30, 2007, a delegation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation visited Estonia and issued an official statement at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Estonia that `the government of Estonia must step down';

Whereas, on May 2, 2007, the Ambassador of Estonia to the Russian Federation was physically attacked by protesters and members of youth groups during an official press conference;

Whereas, on May 2, 2007, the Swedish Ambassador to the Russian Federation was attacked as he left the Embassy of Estonia in Moscow, and his car was damaged by a crowd, resulting in a formal protest to the Russian Federation by the Swedish Foreign Ministry;

Whereas the Government of Estonia has reported other coordinated attacks against Estonian embassies in Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Riga, Prague, Kiev, and Minsk, and the Estonian Consulate in St. Petersburg;

Whereas, on May 2, 2007, Prime Minister of Estonia Andrus Ansip stated that a `sovereign state is under a heavy attack' and that the events constitute `a well-coordinated and flagrant intervention with the internal affairs of Estonia';

Whereas, on May 2, 2007, the public prosecutor's office of Estonia initiated an investigation into the cyber-attacks against Internet servers in Estonia and requested cooperation from the Russian Federation to identify the source of the attacks;

Whereas, on May 2, 2007, the European Commission expressed its solidarity with Estonia and urged Russia to respect its obligations to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, done at Vienna April 18, 1961, and end the blockade of the Embassy of Estonia in Moscow; and

Whereas the Embassy of Estonia in Russia has been closed since April 27, 2007, and Estonia has suspended consular services to Moscow because conditions remain unsafe for Embassy officials: Now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That--

(1) it is the sense of the House of Representatives that the Soviet Union's brutal, decades-long occupation of Estonia was illegal, illegitimate, and a patent violation of Estonia's sovereignty and right to self-determination; and

(2) the House of Representatives--

(A) expresses its strong support for Estonia as a sovereign state and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) as it deals with matters internal to its country;

(B) condemns recent acts of violence, vandalism, and looting that have taken place in Estonia;

(C) condemns the attacks and threats against Estonia's embassies and officials in Russia and other countries;

(D) urges all activists involved to express their views peacefully and reject violence;

(E) honors the sacrifice of all those, including soldiers of the Red Army, that gave their lives in the fight to defeat Nazism;

(F) condemns any and all efforts to callously exploit the memory of the victims of the Second World War for political gain;

(G) supports the efforts of the Government of Estonia to initiate a dialogue with appropriate levels of the Government of the Russian Federation to resolve the crisis peacefully and to sustain cooperation between their two sovereign, independent states; and

(H) urges the governments of all countries--

(i) to condemn the violence that has occurred in Estonia, Moscow, and elsewhere in 2007 and to urge all parties to express their views peacefully;

(ii) to assist the Government of Estonia in its investigation into the source of cyber-attacks; and

(iii) to fulfill their obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, done at Vienna April 18, 1961.

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