The Estonian Patriotic Movement (''Eesti Rahvuslik Liikumine'', ERL) was a political

pressure group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the develop ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

. The group was set up in the middle of 2006 to promote the removal of the monument to the

Bronze Soldier of Tallinn The Bronze Soldier ( et, Pronkssõdur, russian: Бронзовый солдат, ''Bronzovyj soldat'') is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which w ...

from the heart of the Estonian capital,

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

. In February 2012, it claimed a membership of 268.

Politics

, the primary political positions of the ERL were opposition to building the planned

Nord Stream 1 Nord Stream (German-English mixed expression; german: Nord and en, Stream, literally 'North Stream'; russian: Северный поток, ''Severny potok'') is a pair of offshore natural gas pipelines in Europe that run under the Baltic Sea ...

pipeline through the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

, dislike for Estonia being a member state of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, support for a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

military base being installed in Estonia and disdain for the

Estonian Centre Party The Estonian Centre Party ( et, Eesti Keskerakond, EK) is a populist political party in Estonia. It was founded in 1991 as a direct successor of the Popular Front of Estonia, and it is currently led by Jüri Ratas. The party was founded on 12 Oc ...

's perceived improper acts. The movement has also repeatedly expressed displeasure for the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

's covert influence in Estonia's internal affairs. On June 20, 2007, the movement issued a press release demanding declaring the Russian Ambassador to Estonia, Nikolai Uspenski, a ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

'' based on his repeated attempts to exert such influence. This was triggered by the ambassador's presence at an establishment meeting of Russki Mir in Tallinn. In February 2012, it was announced that the movement would merge with the

People's Union of Estonia The People's Union of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Rahvaliit) was a political party in Estonia. Its last leader was Margo Miljand. In the 2003 parliamentary election, the party collected 64,463 votes, which made 13.0% share of all votes and 13 mand ...

to form the

Estonian Conservative People's Party The Conservative People's Party of Estonia ( et, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond, EKRE) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the m ...

References

External links

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1:st homepage
Estonian nationalism Political advocacy groups in Estonia Politics of Estonia Patriotic societies 2006 establishments in Estonia Organizations disestablished in 2013 {{Estonia-party-stub