MOSCOW, October 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia considers the restoration of a monument to the Estonian SS legion a mockery of the memory of the victims of fascism and a direct challenge to the Nuremberg Trials, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.
"It is especially outrageous that this is happening in the year that marks 60 years since the end of World War II," the statement said.
"A new attempt to glorify the Estonian SS legion shows that official Tallinn continues to have a supportive attitude toward them. We believe that such an approach has no justification," the statement said.
A monument to Estonians who fought on the side of Nazi Germany during World War II is expected to be unveiled in Lagedi on October 15 in the presence of officials. In August 2004, this monument was erected in Lihula but later removed due to negative international response.
"We denounce the attempt to reopen the notorious monument and hope that the rise of pro-Nazi sympathies in Estonia, which is an EU and NATO member state, will evoke a response from the international community," the statement said.
