sered where people are dying from a lack of vital supplies amid ongoing fighting something experts say makes nato's mission to protect civilians more questionable than ever. and next we head to the former soviet republic of estonia a country which twenty years ago sought out a peaceful succession and nowadays tends to reject any symbols of its soviet past our special report is next in our. 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 newer over his head that even border an old russian fortress was built opposite nanda. in the mid twentieth century hysteria 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 in russians lived here side by side when a stone 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 if you when you are not fair. this is the historical wide hall of the parliament. in here in the late summer of one thousand nine hundred ninety one to declare recognition of the three baltic republics yeltsin said here flanked by the chairmen of their parliaments garman off represented latvia last previous from lithuania in early till from a store nia 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 twenty third one thousand nine hundred nine people in the three soviet bowl to the publics 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 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 clark was one of those responsible for instituting a new date for a stone you 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 are freedom fighters. sixty six years ago today. on may eighth one thousand nine hundred forty five. get a worldwide. officially came to an end. by freedom 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 banned 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 year 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 saw that their. public displays of soviet symbols are banned in a stone 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 let's not the way they wear 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 heroes. was up until two thousand and seven the memorial stood on thomas maggie 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 republics total inhabitants even a stone stoned to protest. what we call on the people to make legal protests without violating the constitution or laws of a stone ear dimitri linter is the organizer of the night watch movement the new public organization sought to have the government repeal its decision to relocate the burning soldier activists organized around the clock vigil near the monument was dismantled people came to protest. it. was. it's it is grace it's it is green it's it's a disgrace. to support us in the days that there were five or six thousand people there but it's not only if. god.

was on the march and i had two kids with me when police launched a special operation to push the crowd back plainclothesmen came up to me pointed to the snipers who are at the top of the building and said i'd better leave this place and that's what he said you know what sharpshooters were over there and there. and also in that tower. the windows were open. and i would the following morning i was arrested in my home and put in prison after . the rest some of the night was. chuck tourist 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 crowd with flash bang grenades and take. 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 as the bronx night. dimitri linter was already in prison at the time but this is talon central prison which was my cell was number five on the second floor. they kept many different cells but here we can see it. i was charged with spreading lies in media interviews about tough police behavior and accused of spreading anti-government sentiment. it all came under article two three zero 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 in helsinki johann blackman has published a work which he says proves the soviet troops didn't occupy stonier. i reject the occupation myth regrettably is just me it is 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 allowed to enter east tony because of what they described as tony an activity based on u.s. 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 owns a minor television channel its programs often show water official estonian or 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 about 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. the

young people visit them judging by the pictures they looked like skinheads. the owner of the farm also a pizzeria in a nearby village nobody has ever seen it open entering it. its windows display a picture of a soldier of nazi germany. does not heed the thousands of protesters who gathered on thomas mighty 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. and 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 their. own 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. bringing you the latest in science and technology from the realm. we. covered.

a stoner was the first former soviet republic to join the eurozone. hung on but obama is president of the talon institute for economics and management he knows only too well the price the estonian government hunters pay for overcoming economic problems and meeting the terms required for joining neuros a. risky p.c.

does like everything was done to make it seem that the budget and a very low deficit and prevent inflation low pensions expensive medical care growth and exercises and the like enters a good that we became more attractive for investors to study but actually there are the poorer sections of the population had to pay for all that closely. member of parliament he malenko 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 store nia 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. i want these locally grown cabbages are the cheapest here i eat them for vitamins and here is the cheapest cheese at that point. 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 was certain the story and government jumped up living wage by thirteen euro's to seventy seven.

but don't forget that this sum could buy me neither soup nor toothpaste nothing but food reward oil. and it's just see a guy who chain toe spends almost all of her pension to pay for 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 three well i'm too old for walk in the me i would show up but my bike takes me there thank god to have it. off we go my dolly and i think of that said good boy. and it's just cea is a russian by nationality when a stone is declared independence in one thousand nine hundred one she backed the idea and even voted for secession in the referendum she has lived in a stone year 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 and they expose themselves as a people harboring ill will. i no longer wanted to be a citizen or support such policies as i knew that i thought it was a disgrace. so i gave up estonian citizenship. at the school or. nova is a town on a stone years northwestern 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 to find a different job. nearly fifty percent of novice population is jobless most of a stone is russians are so-called non-citizens grey 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 a 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 narva a women 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 nava to. the grey 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 to 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 too. many with the apparent liberalism of

a stony 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 a stone is 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 nine hundred ninety four while she was in that post the school acquired a distinctive and 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. the british always

a had my spirit changed radically with the arrival of the new principal 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 up with the 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. might have that you see. what's especially appalling is that humiliated teachers

had to face their pupils or to press for your business 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 in 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 plays and give advice. to 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 here 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 the stone in police began putting pressure on his business in the

aftermath of his active participation in the two thousand and seven protests. but she is my partners gave in to pressure by special services and broke contracts with me because they were quite open about it. today dimitri cannot find either a job or the start up a business in the stone instead he makes a living in russia once a monthly visits his home country to see his son. be careful there. where he was the one is a very shop full bore what your hands little boy's mother used to call him to shut up or think of the boredom was very shop. after spending a couple of days at home dimitri again goes abroad to earn money. his troopers that one day the people of a stone will no longer be divided into friends and foes but his energy and

entrepreneurial talent will once again be required in his home country.

in some petersburg lottie's available in green to chill your a grand hotel emerald marco polo blue the club schoolteacher circles photo in the big old circus or told us you live ski corinthian escape limits to say a strong kempinski might go twenty to look you think of school for. no sort of.

the headlines what are the arab spring echoes in america u.s. police use force to disperse an adze wall street rally arresting more than seven hundred one person a protest movement gaining momentum across the country. look at why syria's crackdown is deemed more important than the battle of brooklyn bridge by newspapers in the u.s. . and across the atlantic in the u.k. unions angry at budget cuts bring thousands out to rally demanding david cameron's coalition government to resign. also in this week's top stories president medvedev says but here it is greater popularity was behind his decision not to run for a second term as part of a surprise interview that stirred up debate about russia's political future. and a dark humanitarian situation in the besieged libyan town of sirte where people are dying from a lot of five all supplies amid all go we can.