Narva City Council members: Kallas meeting was friendly and constructive
Narva City Council members said their meeting today with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform) was positive. It will be decided on Wednesday if the council plans to take the government to court over the removal of the T-34 tank monument from the city.
Chairman of the Narva City Council Vladimir Žavoronkov told "Aktuaalne kaamera" the meeting was friendly and constructive.
The council will decide tomorrow if it will open a court case against the government.
"We have disagreements in the council and it has not yet been decided. There are those who request it, there are also objections. But the most important thing is that our position, why we want to go to court, is now understandable and clear. We are not like opponents of the state, this is not a lawsuit against the state. We are only complaining about how it [removing the tank] was done," Žavoronkov said.
The chairman said the councilors would like the tank to be moved back to Narva, Estonia's eastern border city.
"If it is possible to do the same as it was done in Viimsi. If the tank comes to Narva Museum, then it would be good. This tank was still ours," said Žavoronkov.
The head of the council's Historical Heritage Committee Aleksei Jevgrafov told ERR that the discussion was open and honest, but that all parties stuck to their original positions.
"The prime minister immediately stated her position and views, she did it specifically and clearly," Jevgrafov said.
According to Jevgrafov, Kallas said, even if Narva had made its own decision to move the tank, the government would still have taken it away from the city.
He added that the prime minister said the T-34 tank would not be returned to Narva. Due to this, Jevgrafov believes the issue should be moved to the courtroom where it can be decided once and for all.
He has previously said it is necessary to go to court to determine whether the government's steps in relocating the tank, and other monuments, was lawful.
Narva council members met with Kallas on Tuesday afternoon at Stenbock House in Tallinn. They discussed last month's sudden removal of the Soviet-era T-34 tank monument and other issues.
The monument, which celebrated the Soviet victory over the Nazis in Narva in 1944, was removed by the government after the council failed to make a decision. It is now located at the Estonian War Museum in Viimsi, close to Tallinn.
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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Helen Wright
