[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 72 (Thursday, May 3, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5610-S5611]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     CONDEMNING VIOLENCE IN ESTONIA

  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the Senate now proceed to the 
immediate consideration of S. Res. 187.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title.
  The assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A resolution (S. Res. 187) condemning violence in Estonia 
     and attacks on Estonia's embassies in 2007 and expressing 
     solidarity with the Government and people of Estonia.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the 
resolution.
  Mr. REID. I ask unanimous consent the resolution be agreed to, the 
preamble be agreed to, and the motion to reconsider be laid on the 
table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The resolution (S. Res. 187) was agreed to.
  The preamble was agreed to.
  The resolution, with its preamble, reads as follows:

                              S. Res. 187

       Whereas, on April 27, 2007, the Bronze Soldier Soviet 
     monument in central Tallinn was moved to a prominent location 
     in the Garrison Military Cemetery as a result of a decision 
     by the Government of Estonia;
       Whereas the Government of Estonia communicated its reasons 
     for this decision to the Government of the Russian Federation 
     and offered to work with Russian officials during the 
     process, which the Russian officials declined to do;
       Whereas, on April 27, 2007, a crowd of more than 1,000 
     demonstrators gathered at the site of the memorial and riots 
     broke out across Tallinn;

[[Page S5611]]

       Whereas more than 153 people were injured as a result of 
     the riots, and one died as a result of stabbing by another 
     rioter;
       Whereas several stores in Tallinn and surrounding villages 
     were looted as a result of the riots, and a statue of an 
     Estonian general was set on fire;
       Whereas, since April 27, 2007, the Government of Estonia 
     has reported several cyber-attacks on its official lines of 
     communication, including those of the Office of the 
     President;
       Whereas, on April 28, 2007, and in days following, the 
     Embassy of Estonia in Moscow was surrounded by angry 
     protesters who demanded the resignation of the Government of 
     Estonia, tore down the flag of Estonia from the Embassy 
     building, and subjected Embassy officials inside the building 
     to violence and vandalism;
       Whereas, on April 30, 2007, a delegation of the State Duma 
     of the Russian Federation visited Estonia and issued an 
     official statement at the Embassy of the Russian Federation 
     in Estonia that ``the government of Estonia must step down'';
       Whereas, on May 2, 2007, the Ambassador of Estonia to the 
     Russian Federation was physically attacked by protesters and 
     members of youth groups during an official press conference;
       Whereas, on May 2, 2007, the Swedish Ambassador to the 
     Russian Federation was attacked as he left the Embassy of 
     Estonia in Moscow, and his car was damaged by a crowd, 
     resulting in a formal protest to the Russian Federation by 
     the Swedish Foreign Ministry;
       Whereas the Government of Estonia has reported other 
     coordinated attacks against Estonian embassies in Helsinki, 
     Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Riga, Prague, Kiev, and Minsk, 
     and the Estonian Consulate in St. Petersburg;
       Whereas, on May 2, 2007, Prime Minister of Estonia Andrus 
     Ansip stated that a ``sovereign state is under a heavy 
     attack'' and that the events constitute ``a well-coordinated 
     and flagrant intervention with the internal affairs of 
     Estonia'';
       Whereas, on May 2, 2007, the public prosecutor's office of 
     Estonia initiated an investigation into the cyber-attacks 
     against Internet servers in Estonia and requested cooperation 
     from the Russian Federation to identify the source of the 
     attacks;
       Whereas, on May 2, 2007, the European Commission expressed 
     its solidarity with Estonia and urged Russia to respect its 
     obligations to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 
     done at Vienna April 18, 1961, and end the blockade of the 
     Embassy of Estonia in Moscow; and
       Whereas the Embassy of Estonia in Russia has been closed 
     since April 27, 2007, and Estonia has suspended consular 
     services to Moscow because conditions remain unsafe for 
     Embassy officials: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That--
        (a) it is the sense of the Senate that the Soviet Union's 
     brutal, decades-long occupation of Estonia was illegal, 
     illegitimate, and a patent violation of Estonia's sovereignty 
     and right to self-determination; and
       (b) the Senate--
       (1) expresses its strong support for Estonia as a sovereign 
     state and a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization 
     (NATO) and the Organization of Security and Cooperation in 
     Europe (OSCE) as it deals with matters internal to its 
     country;
       (2) condemns recent acts of violence, vandalism, and 
     looting that have taken place in Estonia;
       (3) condemns the attacks and threats against Estonia's 
     embassies and officials in Russia and other countries;
       (4) urges all activists involved to express their views 
     peacefully and reject violence;
       (5) honors the sacrifice of all those, including soldiers 
     of the Red Army, that gave their lives in the fight to defeat 
     Nazism;
       (6) condemns any and all efforts to callously exploit the 
     memory of the victims of the Second World War for political 
     gain;
       (7) supports the efforts of the Government of Estonia to 
     initiate a dialogue with appropriate levels of the Government 
     of the Russian Federation to resolve the crisis peacefully 
     and to sustain cooperation between their two sovereign, 
     independent states; and
       (8) urges the governments of all countries--
       (A) to condemn the violence that has occurred in Estonia, 
     Moscow, and elsewhere in 2007 and to urge all parties to 
     express their views peacefully;
       (B) to assist the Government of Estonia in its 
     investigation into the source of cyber-attacks; and
       (C) to fulfill their obligations under the Vienna 
     Convention on Diplomatic Relations, done at Vienna April 18, 
     1961.

                          ____________________