Two medieval fortresses face each other across the Narva River separating Estonia from Russia on Europe’s eastern edge.
Once a symbol of cooperation, the “Friendship Bridge” connecting the two snow-covered banks has been reinforced with rows of razor wire and “dragon’s teeth” anti-tank obstacles on the Estonian side.
“The name is kind of ironic,” regional border chief Eerik Purgel said.
Photo: AFP
Some fear the border town of more than 50,0000 people — a mixture of Estonians, Russians and people left stateless after the fall of the Soviet Union — could be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s next target.
On the Estonian side of the bridge, the NATO flag flutters in the wind beside those of Estonia and the EU.
People in cars used to queue up to cross the Narva River to go shopping and see relatives in Russia, but today, the crossing is closed to traffic and travelers pull their luggage across on foot.
As Moscow’s war against Ukraine approaches its fourth anniversary, the mood in Narva is gloomy.
“Here at the edge of Europe the war feels different,” Narva Mayor Katri Raik said. “We see Russia across the border every day.
“We’re all thinking about what comes next,” she added.
Since the Russian invasion, Estonia has reinforced its defenses.
Its army is tiny. The Estonian Ministry of Defense said a force of just fewer than 44,000 people could be deployed to defend the country if necessary, alongside about 2,000 troops from allied NATO countries.
Estonian authorities have also sought to enhance national security with other measures. They have stripped Russians and stateless residents of the right to vote in local elections, and are switching to teaching in Estonian in dozens of schools.
Those reforms have hit Russian-speaking Narva hard.
The changes, combined with high unemployment, soaring energy bills, a collapse in ties with Russia and fear of conflict, have heightened tensions in the border town.
“This is the most difficult period in our history in about 40 years,” town council chairman Mihhail Stalnuhhin said, denouncing policies targeting Russian speakers. “It’s compounded by the constant talk of war, war, war, war, war. People are going through a very difficult moral, economic and social situation.”
In Narva, about half of all residents are Estonian, one-third hold Russian citizenship and about 7,000 people are stateless.
Much of the historic baroque Old Town was destroyed during World War II, and under Soviet rule, Narva became predominantly Russian-speaking.
Thirty-five years after Estonia won independence, Narva is still struggling with its sense of identity.
Vladimir Aret, a 32-year-old hotel manager and member of the town council, said many in Narva felt caught between two worlds.
“I am European, but we sometimes joke that we do not understand what our homeland is,” he said.
While many — including Aret — call themselves Estonian patriots, some praise Putin.
Some people in Narva speak only Russian. They watch Russian television and are nostalgic for the Soviet past.
Russia regularly rails against the Estonian government, with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs slamming “Estonia’s growing Russophobic madness” and the authorities’ “neo-Nazi” policies in a report last year.
Some back the Moscow view.
“We, Russian speakers, are being discriminated against,” a woman in Narva said.
Olga Kolesnikova, a stateless 64-year-old, disagreed.
“I don’t feel disadvantaged,” she said, adding that three of her four children were Estonian citizens.
Aleksandr Gruljov, a 59-year-old construction worker, said he was even considering giving up Russian citizenship.
“Nobody is oppressing anyone here,” he added.
German political scientist Carlo Masala said depriving Russian citizens in Estonia of the right to vote in local elections was “a perfect gateway for Russian propaganda.”
As in Donbas in eastern Ukraine, “Russia can argue that the rights of its minorities living abroad are under threat, providing a reason to protect them, if necessary by military means,” he said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has cast the political sympathies of Estonia’s Russian-speaking population into the spotlight.
“Will they support the state in the event of war, possibly against Russia?” asked a 2023 study of the country’s Russian-speaking minority.
According to its findings, 65 percent of Estonia’s Russian speakers said they were “rather or definitely patriots of Estonia,” whereas 28 percent said that they were “rather or definitely not.”
THE TRAGEDY OF PUNCH: Footage of the seven-month-old Japanese macaque has gone viral online after he was rejected by his mother and formed a bond with a soft toy A baby monkey in Japan has captured hearts around the world after videos of him being bullied by other monkeys and rejected by his mother went viral last week. Punch, a Japanese macaque, was born in July last year at Ichikawa City Zoo. He has drawn international attention after zookeepers gave him a stuffed orangutan toy after he was abandoned by his mother. Without maternal guidance to help him integrate, Punch has turned to the toy for comfort. He has been filmed multiple times being dragged and chased by older Japanese macaques inside the enclosure. Early clips showed him wandering alone with
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday said he did not take his security for granted, after he was evacuated from his residence for several hours following a bomb threat sent to a Chinese dance group. Albanese was evacuated from his Canberra residence late on Tuesday following the threat, and returned a few hours later after nothing suspicious was found. The bomb scare was among several e-mails threatening Albanese sent to a representative of Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance troupe banned in China that is due to perform in Australia this month, a spokesperson for the group said in a statement. The e-mail
‘OCCUPATION’: Hong Kong said it had lodged ‘stern protests’ with Panama’s consulate, and would ‘staunchly support’ the rights and interests of Hong Kong companies Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino on Monday ordered the temporary occupation of two ports run by a unit of CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd following the Supreme Court’s ruling against the firm’s concession, escalating a dispute that has become a proxy battle between the US and China in Latin America. Mulino said in a speech that the administration and operation of the two ports on the strategic Panama Canal is to revert to the country’s National Maritime Authority to ensure their uninterrupted, safe and efficient operation. The occupation covers movable equipment at the ports and does not mean a definitive loss of
GAME CHANGER The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the utility of small drones for recon, for supporting logistics and for killing across the modern battlefield Five European nations have announced a new program to produce low-cost air defense systems and autonomous drones using Ukrainian expertise, hard-won over the past four years fighting against Russia. Friday’s initiative of the five nations — France, Poland, Germany, the UK and Italy — comes as one of many European efforts to bolster defense along their borders, like a “drone wall ” with Russia and Ukraine to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace. Both Moscow and Kyiv have cutting-edge drone warfare capabilities forged in the grim laboratory of war where battlefield innovations have rewritten modern battle tactics. Poland is
RSS