Estonian President Alar Karis does not see the need to remove the monument to Russian Empire general Michael Barclay de Tolly, a figure from the Napoleonic Wars, located in Tartu.
In an interview with ERR, Karis was asked whether the process of distancing from everything associated with the Russian language should be accelerated.
“If there is a war somewhere, and we know who the aggressor is, I think it’s unnecessary to associate this with language and culture, especially since language and culture stem from history. I would be very cautious here,” he said.
He warned against removing cultural monuments simply because they are perceived as political.
“As we know, in Latvia, the monument to Barclay de Tolly was removed. We see no reason to remove it from Tartu. It is part of our culture, and so what if it largely represents German-Scottish culture? He is still from here, and we like to consider such heroes as our own,” Karis explained.
