Pärnu plans to relocate Soviet monument to cemetery
Pärnu is planning to move a Soviet monument dedicated to people killed defending the USSR from a park to a cemetery in the coming months.
The red granite slab in Vanapark is dedicated to people killed in "historical events" in 1905, 1917, 1924 and 1941-1944 and was erected when Estonia was under Soviet occupation.
There have been repeated calls to move the monument and nearby graves from private individuals and political groups over the years, Mayor of Pärnu Romek Kosenkranius wrote in a letter to the minister of culture.
In order to move the statue, its historical and cultural status first needs to be removed. Then the council can turn to the Ministry of Defense's War Graves Commission to discuss its removal.
Kosenkranius asked the Ministry of Culture to consider removing its protected heritage status.
Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, several cities and municipalities have been discussing the future of their remaining monuments. Similar situations have arisen in Lithuania and Latvia.
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Editor: Helen Wright
