Narva Museum is known for being located in a medieval castle located directly on Estonia's eastern border. It has a modern permanent exhibition, and from time to time, the entire media gets a front-row seat to the civil war going on between Narva and state officials on the museum's supervisory board.

Long-simmering tensions flared with the installation of the 1944 March bombing exhibition early this spring. Comparing the March bombing to Russia's aggression in Ukraine reopened old wounds. City representatives saw it as a research institution meddling in politics and propaganda, and of course, everyone immediately recalled the bloody-faced Putin poster hung from a castle wall last year. The state viewed this as a conflict of values, and demanded the removal of the City of Narva's representatives from the museum's supervisory board. At the time, the situation culminated in a labor peace, however that wouldn't last for long.

Early last week, Narva City Council members announced that they had had enough, and would no longer be attending museum supervisory board meetings.

City councilmembers Aleksei Mägi and Vadim Orlov, who are obstructing the operation of the museum's supervisory board, refuse to appear on camera, as they believe the labor peace remains in effect. According to them, however, the problems here are very serious. Narva Museum's annual report makes no mention of guarantee statements received from the city or the museum's ability to fulfill its financial obligations. Meeting minutes only superficially or even downright incorrectly reflect what was discussed at meetings, voting procedures have been violated and ultimately the supervisory board's most recent decisions are illegitimate.

The main issue, however, is that while an equal number of state and city representatives serve on the supervisory board, it is nonetheless the chair representing the state that has the deciding vote. Narva wants a greater say in things. This would require amending the articles of association – and Narva Mayor Jaan Toots (Center) is heading to meet with Minister of Culture Heidy Purga (Reform) to propose just that.

"Will this confusion continue, or will the articles of association simply be amended, as required by law, so that a majority – in this case four board members – must always be in favor," noted Toots. "Ergo, if something doesn't suit the City of Narva, then it can be vetoed. Currently, we have no veto power; the state decides what it wants with its three votes. So regardless of whom we appoint, our supervisory board members have no say at all."

To date, major conflicts in foundations with city representation have ended in victories for Narva. This spring, Narva Hospital board member Ago Kõrgvee was dismissed to a chorus of boos from protesters. Seven years ago, then-museum director Andres Toode lost his job amid the museum conflict at the time. In both cases, official pretexts cited mismanagement and economic issues. The situation today is similar.

Supporters of the museum see the growing opposition as driven primarily by city councilmembers' political ambitions.

"They're showing local voters here how they'd like to change Narva Museum, to make it better suit locals' liking," said Rene Abramson, an employee at the city's state high school. "I'd like to tell the state: don't let this happen, don't hand power over Narva Museum over to the city. These Soviet fetishists, occupation deniers, these kinds of people will start running everything, and good luck with that. Europe starts here."

No one can predict how this escalating "museum war" will end this time. Narva maintains that this is purely a management issue, which can be resolved amicably by giving the city a greater say within the museum's governing body. From Tallinn's perspective, however, Narva Museum is a stronghold of Estonian identity on the Russian border that must not be ceded under any circumstances, because who knows what Narva's politicians may do with the museum.

Some more fierce voices insist that the museum should be nationalized once and for all, however the City of Narva hasn't played all of its own cards yet either. The upcoming meeting between the Northeastern Estonian border city's mayor and the minister of culture this week should shed more light on the matter.

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