roaming the streets of the capital this comes as serious one of the last gadhafi strongholds is reportedly surrounded by the former rebel forces deepening the humanitarian crisis in the stricken city. coming up in about thirty minutes time my colleague marina josh will be with you with a full look at your news but now it's time for our special report our crew goes out to the former soviet republic of a stone a country which twenty years ago sought out a peaceful succession and now days tends to reject any symbols of its soviet past. this is the only place in the world where two ng she'd call to sit stand so close to each other. in the middle ages russia's border run along the shore with the over his head that even border an old russian fortress was built opposite nanda a living human concept. in the mid twentieth century eastern it was part of the

soviet union a friendship in the two towns novel and even in effect a single municipality with a common infrastructure and transport system a stone eons and russians lived here side by side when a stony achieved independence in one thousand nine hundred one the border along another over liver was reinstated the so-called friendship bridge became a checkpoint with flags of two different states once again flying over the old fortresses. before a stone you know won independence in one thousand nine hundred one the struggle for secession from the soviet union in this republic was exceptionally peaceful.

and the country managed to avoid the bloodshed that was characteristic of its baltic neighbors lithuania and latvia. this is the historical wide hall of fame parliament. came here in. the late summer of one thousand nine hundred ninety one to declare recognition of the three baltic republics that yeltsin said here flanked by the chairmen of their parliaments garman off represented latvia last previous from lithuania in early two zero from a store near yeltsin made a speech here he signed three treaties with the baltic states. estonian historian mark lauder began his struggle for his country's independence in the mid

one nine hundred eighty s. he organized and took part in numerous acts of protest. the most high profile of them was the famous bowl to weigh in on august the twenty third one thousand nine hundred nine people in the three soviet baltic republics of lithuania latvia and the stonier formed a six hundred kilometer human chain linking the three capitals. on the reserve and . i began my struggle against communism when i was still a college student at the same time i campaigned for a stony as independence which was a logical thing to do and if we had lost our freedom as a result of a pact between two regimes naziism and communism. as a staunch opponent of communism mark clark twice held the post of premier after a stone erupt and independence now here's the country's defense minister. in the soviet union victory in world war two was celebrated on may the ninth mark lerner

was one of those responsible for instituting a new date for a sterner think c.j. there is marked in the european style on may the eighth but celebrations on that date or of an entirely different kind. of what we dare freedom fighters. sixty six years ago today. on may eighth one thousand nine hundred forty five. get a world war two. officially came to an end. by three dem fighters the defense minister means the few surviving veterans of the twentieth estonian s.s. division and all those who fought on the side of nazi germany the veterans have been brought to the german cemetery on the outskirts of tal in where their brothers in arms of.

the police band speeches by representatives of public organizations wreaths from the government and other official agencies. on the same evening the chairman of the anti fascist coalition of a stone yeah retired colonel vladimir matelot so was making preparations for victory day kyra hello karl this is a matelot are speaking how are you remember what we have agreed to do you're wearing all your medals right that's because he you and i are going to be taking the main wreaths to the bronze soldier monument so doubtful that public displays of soviet symbols are banned in a stern year even though an exception has been made for veterans on may the eighth and ninth they were at risk if they venture out into the streets wearing their

medals on victory day. on previous occasions youngsters would come up to you and spit in your face there were cases like that. but that's not the way the where the medals now that's the situation here. it's not an honor any longer. the russian military cemetery in tallinn this memorial symbolizes the country's liberation from fascist troops it is informally known as the bronze soldier may the ninth is not a public holiday in a stone year thousands of people seek to obtain permission to be absent from work in order to come to the monument and greet the veterans. thank you thank you laurie to our war hero is. up until two thousand and seven the memorial stood on to his mighty square in

central talon in two thousand and six this tony and government relocated the bronze soldier there were strong protests by the russophone population russian speakers account for one third of the republic's total inhabitants even a stone stone to protest. what we call on the people to make legal protests without violating the constitution or laws of the stonier dimitri linter is the organizer of the nightwatch movement the new public organization sought to have the government repeal its decision to relocate the bronx soldier activists organized around the clock vigil near the monument i was dismantled people came to protest. i. know. it's it is grace it's it is chris it's a disgrace. it's

a put out some of that there were five or six thousand people there but it's not only. was. i had two kids with me. police launched a special operation to push the crowd back plain clothes men came up to me pointed to the snipers who were at the top of the building and said i better leave this place. sharpshooters were over there and there. and also in that tower. the windows were open. and i would do the following morning i was arrested in my home and put in prison after. the list some all night watch activists didn't affect the situation in any radical way. the day after the dispersal of the first i'm straight thousands of people came to the morning to get in this time police used tougher methods to break up the crowds with flash bang grenades and. more than

one hundred fifty people were injured in two days of clashes with police one man died in hospital all that happened in the early hours of april twenty seventh two thousand and seven which has since become known in history as the brahms night. dimitri linter was already in prison at that time but this is talon central prison which my cell was number five on the second floor. they kept main difference cells but here we can see it. because i was charged with spreading lies in media interviews about tough police behavior and accused of spreading anti-government sentiment to place. it all came under article two three eight of the criminal code concerning the organization of mass protests. dimitri spend seven months in prison one investigation was in progress in the end all charges against him were lifted.

finnish historian and head of the anti fascist center and how sinky johan backman has published a work which he says proves the soviet troops didn't occupy stonier. i reject the occupation myth regrettably it's just me it's the basis of the policy of . backman was deprived of the right to enter a stone he had visited on many occasions before but when he arrived at the port of talon by ferry he was immediately detained and led to the headquarters of the border service. there i was told that i was no longer. because of what they describe as tony an activity prison policies are indicative of an apartheid regime

people there are divided into two groups citizens and non-citizens citizens are those who have political and other rights in that society non-citizens are those who are deprived of those rights they hold great passports. only said in tones of minor television channel its programmes often show what officially thirty's tend to ignore. in two thousand and eight was able to worm his way into the confidence of the farmer in the village of. i met with a farm owner that's him. he invites friends who fought on the side of the third reich to his place. they are always welcome in the farmer's home they can stay for the night there. he has

a big collection of old german films he shows them to his guests telling them that if the other side had won the war maybe life would be better now. very many young people visit them judging by the pictures they look like skinheads. the owner of. also a pizzeria in a nearby village nobody has ever seen it open all guests entering it. its windows display a picture of a soldier of nazi germany. does not heed the thousands of protesters who gathered on thomas maggie square in two thousand and seven the bronze soldier monument to the liberators of talent was moved to the city's outskirts today there is nothing but its old spot. we never thought we would live to hear my grandfather asking for advice on whether he

should wear his medals when he goes out on may ninth. never occurred to us that a public display of decorations awarded for the fight against fascism might be banned in europe that was responsible for the loss of so many lives there. on victory day may the ninth people still bring flowers not only to the military cemetery but also to the square the formal location of the bronze soldier.

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stone who was the first former soviet republic to join the euro zone. is president of the institute for economics and management he knows only too well the price to. pay for the coming economic problems and meeting the terms required for joining. everything was done to make it seem like budget had a very low deficit and prevented. inflation low pensions expensive medical care growth of exercisers and the like induce good that we became more attractive for investors to study but actually they're the poorer sections of the population had to pay for all that. member of parliament lenk agreed to take part in an experiment suggested by journalists on

a popular internet site his task was to see how he would survive on a subsistence wage for a month shopping was something of an ordeal for him a link he couldn't afford to spend even one cent above his budget because otherwise he would have ruined the experiment. the minimum a subsistence wage in a story a was sixty four euros that comes down to two euros a day i bought these pastries that telling a central market place this morning that both cost fifty euro cents worth of what these locally grown cabbages are the cheapest here i eat them for vitamins and here is the cheapest cheese. nearly every day he posted reports on his expenditures on the internet by the end of the month the whole nation was following his daily reports he received hundreds of letters

with people offering advice support. the experiment was even reported by the international media i think that's why i always sudden the story and government jacked up living wage by thirteen euro's to seventy seven. but don't forget that this sum could buy i mean either soup nor toothpaste nothing but food reward oil. anastasio guide to change though spends almost all of her pension to pay the utilities now she can only rely on a small part of land ten kilometers from town she cycles there several times a week to see how a crop is fairing mortgage the bob ward thought well i'm too old for walking in the me i would show up but my bike takes me there thing gotta have it. off we go my dollar. that's

a good boy. and it's just see here is a russian by nationality when a stoner declared independence in one thousand nine hundred one she backed the idea and even voted for secession in a referendum she has lived in a stone here for many years as a good commander of this journey and language she received a blue passport after a problem free process of naturalization. when the bronze soldier affair broke out they expose themselves as a people harboring ill will. but i am no longer wanted to be a citizen or support such policies as i knew that i thought that it was a disgrace. so i gave up estonian citizenship at the school for. no other as a town on a stone years north western border. nearly all major industrial plants have been

closed down here in the past ten years. this tannery is the only leftover from the soviet union of ten lathes only one is to the operation one thousand three hundred jobs have been cut down to sixty. i'm lucky to see that this plant is still operational even turns out some new products that you won't be able to find anywhere else in the stonier. being a production manager i won't be able to find a job anywhere else this is the only tannery here and many other people also will be able find a different job. nearly fifty percent of novice population is jobless most of a stone is russians are so-called non-citizens great passports given the right to enter russia without a visa. selling cheaper russian goods on the black market mostly cigarettes and

liquor is one of the most common forms of making living here people avoid bringing in more than a permitted amount at a time so as not to be detained at the border. we shall all six or seven times a day it's a small business you know half of the people in town live off it if the border were blocked i can't imagine how things would work out here. a pack of cheap cigarettes costs less than fifty euro cents in russia in a woman standing outside shops all day long sell them at double the price expensive cigarettes are not brought in there was almost no demand for the people holding great passports have difficulty finding a job outside nada to. the great passport alone infringes upon my civil rights i was born here i am entitled to a citizens' passport nobody wants me to be able to vote they see no point in that we are slaves here that's all there is to it. dystonia and government plan to introduce reform by two thousand and seven. its prime objective was to make sure

that all of the country's high schools including russian language ones used as stony and in the classroom. but pressure from the e.u. brought about an amendment to the education law the abrupt change in legislation allows other languages to. the apparent liberalism of a study in school legislation has been handsomely made up for by the severity of municipal and government bureaucrats not one of the high schools has since been able to use its right to teach in another language not even such schools as pushkin high school which is more than one hundred years old. the high school named after the russian author pushkin the town of tar two is the pride of the stoniest russian language schools even parents from neighboring population centers have sort of mission for that. children. julian abreaction

a mathematician was appointed head of the school's teaching department in one thousand and four while she was in the post the school acquired a distinctive sphere and a special style of teaching moreover it became a center of russian culture in tartu in two thousand and three however the education ministry fired the school's principal. but up to shaw they had my spirit changed radically with the arrival of the new principal but. it changed so much so that the teachers were afraid of talking to me. they didn't want to the principal to see that they were still on good terms with me becky that three year victoria tried to keep the spirit of the school alive but in the end she gave up and quit her job. with this as i didn't like the new principal saying that the all that democracy should be scaled down. say the russians

needed to be prodded all the time. it pains me to see my teachers losing their sense of dignity. my to that you see. what's especially poland is that humiliated teachers had to face their pupils are depressed lawyer this but many years have passed but i still recall those things with tears in my eyes. many ethnic a stern in seek employment abroad precisely because they speak russian then land is actively promoting relations with russia with each year the number of tourists visiting both countries grows. when you know russian speaking drivers

when i were tourists go to russia it's important that there are skilled drivers with a good command of russian they find it easier to get around there if they speak russian when russian tourists come to finland they always get a russian speaking driver who can tell them about the place and give advice. two weeks in finland one week at home this is the operating schedule of the estonian driver olvey cooler after he got employment with a finnish bus company in two thousand and nine he bought a house his cherished dream the money he earned was enough to buy a plot of land pay for the design the building process takes all his free time all the cooler must finish everything before winter to settle down with his family in a new house. for wages in western countries are three to four times higher than a stone i quit my job of my own accord to earn a little money while i was still a young man many of my friends work in finland some are drivers others are

construction workers still others work in norway. there was a time when dimitri lynsay run a thriving business in tallinn selling exotic goods from india but in a surprise move estonian police began putting pressure on his business in the aftermath of his active participation in the two thousand and seven protests. but surely said my partners gave in to pressure by special services and broke contract with me because there were quite open about it. today dimitri cannot find either a job with his false start up a business in the stone or instead he makes a living in russia once a month he visits his home country to see his son. be careful there. where he was the ones a very shop full bore what your hands little boy's body was like your think shop well think of the boredom was very shocked. after spending

a couple of days at home dmitri lim again goes abroad to earn money. his focus that one day the people of a stallion will no longer be divided into friends and foes and his energy and entrepreneurial talent will once again be required in his home country.

pre-election fever grades russia with president get a force to clarify both his power swap plans with the board and the sudden departure of moscow's longstanding finance minister. greece on the brink of debt inspectors scramble to secure more bailout cash for the crumbling economy with just a week to go to a meltdown with a french president warning of a new global crisis. and an explosive standoff serbian walk a day at a disputed border post in north possible are hit by nato troops leaving several people injured. it's a dam of the russian capital you're watching our josh welcome to the program i widely publicized reshuffle in the portman a bit of tandem and this.