OSCE Chairman expresses support for Estonian government position on wartime monument

SOFIA, 22 August 2004 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, expressed support for the Estonian government in its objections to the erection of a controversial monument commemorating Estonians who fought on the side of Nazi forces in World War Two.

In a phone conversation with the Chairman-in-Office, Estonian Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland expressed confidence that the case of the monument dedicated to the 20th Estonian SS division, which was set up in the town of Lihula on August 20, would be resolved in a just and prompt manner.

"I appreciate and support the principled and democratic position of the Estonian government and the condemnation of this act by Estonian Prime Minister Juhan Parts. There is no excuse and there will never be an excuse for praising Nazism," Minister Passy said.

The Chairman-in-Office welcomed the Prime Minister's position and agreed with his comment that the monument, which depicts a soldier dressed in a German uniform, casts a shadow on the Estonian state and people.

The Chairman-in-Office expressed his readiness to provide the Estonian authorities with all the necessary moral backing and support in finding the expected solution.