27.02.2018, Tallin.
Thousands of people participated in a torchlit march in the Old City of Tallin. The march was dedicated to Estonian Independence Day, the Delfi Estonian news site reports, on February 24.
Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (CPPE) was the organizer of the torchlit march for Estonia’s Independence day. The party’s leader, Mart Helme, greeted the procession’s participants. “Everyone who loves Estonia” is welcome to join the march, according to the organizers.
CPPE was founded in March 2012 when the agrarian centrist party People’s Union of Estonia and the nationalist right-wing group Estonian Patriotic Movement merged. The CPPE leaders hope to turn Tallinn into a monolingual Estonian-speaking city.
Editorial comment
Independence day torchlit marches, especially under slogans like “For Estonia and Estonians” in Tallinn or “Ukraine über alles” in Kiev, cannot help but make strong association with Nazi torchlit marches in Germany during the 1930s and 40s. The organizers’ call for “Everyone who loves Estonia” should not mislead anyone. Veterans of the Waffen-SS division and their supporters took part in the first of such marches. And everyone, who participates in such torchlit marches, will be first associated with the supporters of the Latvian Waffen-SS legion. Moreover, this connection is built by the organizers on purpose, as they try to involve as many people as possible.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
