THE MONUMENT TO THE SOLDIER

This stunning statue of a soldier inscribed in his stone background in 1947 was originally a memorial to Soviet soldiers who were missing during World War II. For years, Estonians regarded this monument as the symbol of occupation. As times changed, the text accompanying what remains, however, a Soviet monument, changed. «To those who fell during the Second World War». Russians living in Estonia continue to bloom a monument that is for them a tomb of the unknown Soldier, in memory of fallen relatives. In April 2007, this monument referred to him and was the cause of many disorders. On the night of 26 April, the Estonian authorities began work on the exhumation and identification of the remains of the Soviet soldiers buried in front of the memorial to the Soldier Soldier in the city centre. For Moscow and the Russian minority of Estonia, which represents a quarter of the population, the monument symbolizes victory over Nazism during World war II. Most Estonians are mainly a painful reminder of nearly 50 years of Soviet occupation of the country, which became independent in 1991 before joining the European Union and NATO in 2004. As a result, hundreds of people were then taken to the streets of Tallinn on the evening of 27 to protest against the government's decision. Almost 500 people, including more than 100 minors, were arrested in new clashes between police forces and opponents of dismantling.