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Russia, Latvia to sign agreement on Soviet military burials' status

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MOSCOW, March 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Latvia will sign an agreement soon on the status of Soviet military burials, the Russian prime minister said Tuesday against a backdrop of preparations in Estonia's capital to remove a Soviet-era monument.

The six-foot high "Bronze Soldier" and other Soviet war memorials have in recent years become rallying points for ethnic Russians, and clashes with Estonian nationalists near the bronze monument prompted the Estonian authorities to press for monuments "dividing society" to be removed.

"All differences that existed have been removed by our experts," Mikhail Fradkov told journalists after talks with his Latvian counterpart Aigars Kalvitis. "We treat burial places of both WWI and WWII with great honor."

Estonia passed a law allowing the reburial of WWII soldiers from "unsuitable places" or "in the public interest" January 10.

Under the law, Defense Minister Jurgen Ligi is to make a final decision on the exhumation and relocation of soldiers' remains following recommendations from the ex-Soviet Baltic state's commission on wartime burials.

The commission recommended March 13 removing the tombs that are part of a Soviet-era memorial from central Tallinn to a "quieter" military cemetery.

In this connection, Latvia's ambassador to Russia, Andris Teikmanis, said in February that Latvia honors the memory of Soviet soldiers who died during the Second World War, and that the country is not going to remove memorials devoted to them.

Fradkov called on the Latvian authorities not to infringe on the rights of the Russian-speaking population in the country, which, he said, totals about 20% of the Baltic state's population.

Russia has long accused Tallinn of encouraging Nazism and discrimination against ethnic Russians, and even engaged in a debate on possible sanctions against Estonia.

Some 50,000 Soviet troops perished in Estonia in 1944, when Soviet troops liberated it from Nazi forces and regained control of the republic. However, many Estonians regard the event as a prelude to a renewed Soviet occupation, which lasted until the country declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

The bodies of Soviet soldiers are buried in 450 cemeteries and memorials across the country.

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