Estonia wants protests to stop at embassy

TALLINN, Estonia, May 2 (UPI) -- Estonia will suspend consular services at its embassy in Moscow if protests continue outside, the foreign minister said Tuesday.

Urmas Paet, the foreign minister, accused Russia of interfering in Estonia's internal affairs, Itar-Tass reported.

The protests have been over Estonia's decision to move a large bronze statue of a Soviet soldier from Independence Square in Tallinn to a military cemetery. Estonia has also exhumed the bodies of Soviet soldiers who were killed during World War II and plans to inter them near the relocated statue.

The move has sparked rioting by Russian-speaking Estonians.

Russian legislators who traveled to Tallinn Monday were not allowed to watch the exhumation, Kommersant reported.

"Unfortunately, the monument has a double meaning," Estonian Defense Minister Jaak Aakvisoo said. "On the hand, it reminds of those slain in the war, those who gave their lives to fight Nazism. But it is also a painful reminder of Soviet occupation and crimes against humanity, comparable to crimes of Nazi Germany."