Estonia's parliament adopted a law Wednesday paving the way for the dismantling of Soviet-era war memorials and reburying of the remains of Soviet soldiers who died liberating the Baltic state from German invaders during the Second World War, but who are themselves seen by many Estonians as having been occupiers.
"We must insist that the monuments remain in place," Sergei Lavrov said.
The bill, which was passed on a first reading in November 2006, resulted from a dispute over a monument to a Soviet liberator in downtown Tallinn, which authorities want to remove.
"Memorials should unite people. But this specific monument in this specific place divides society, and I am convinced it should not be there," Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said.
But Lavrov said the move was disgraceful and had nothing to do with preserving historical accuracy. "The task is to prevent a repetition of the lessons of World War II," the minister said.
The State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, is set to consider a draft resolution Wednesday on severing contacts with the political forces that initiated and passed the controversial law, Speaker Boris Gryzlov said.
And Lavrov has backed the move, which he said aims to prevent history from being forgotten.
"We hope common sense will prevail and an understanding will be reached in order to avert the desecration of monuments to liberators," Lavrov said.
The Russian leadership has repeatedly called the EU's attention to attempts by Estonia, which declared its independence from the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and joined NATO and the European Union in 2004, to glorify Nazi Germany, including with parades by former Nazi SS fighters.
Moscow has also harshly criticized Estonia's discriminatory policies with respect to ethnic Russians who moved to the republic following its annexation by the Soviet Union in 1940.
Many members of Estonia's Russian community are denied citizenship and employment rights, and cannot receive an education in their native language.
