world mirror
Many citizens in Estonia continue to have close ties to Russia. But the shared history puts a strain on living together, as does the debate about the role of the national language. This is also evident in the border town of Narva.
Only a river separates the European city of Narva from Russia. Imposing castles tower on both banks. On the western bank stands the Hermannsfeste, three flags symbolize: This is still Estonia, this is the European Union, this is still NATO territory.
On the opposite bank in the city of Ivangorod, the Russian flag is blowing in the wind. The two cities are connected by a bridge called “Friendship”. But there is little sign of this now – despite the name, the border has been closed to car traffic since the war of aggression on Ukraine. The only way to cross the bridge is on foot at the moment.
What shapes the memory
Narva was an important industrial location during Soviet times. Workers came from all over the Soviet Union to work in the textile factory – a workplace for more than 10,000 people, including Lena Kase’s family. As a 15-year-old girl, she started working in the factory. First as a weaver, later as a cleaner: “The work was hard, we worked in three shifts. But the good thing was: you knew that tomorrow you would still have a job, a roof over your head and no one would take your apartment away from you. “
Today the textile factory is empty, but the 66-year-old likes to walk around the fenced-in area, remembering the time that meant security for her. Kasa only speaks a few words in Estonian. She had once started to learn Estonian, but since those around her only spoke Russian, she forgot the language again.
Even today, more than 95 percent of people in Narva speak primarily Russian. Russian songs are playing on the car radios. Waiters greet restaurant guests in Russian. Nevertheless, the people here emphasize: We belong to Estonia and European values are important to us.
But a connection to the Russian side can also be felt. Most people in Narva have relatives across the river in Russia. They also feel connected to Russian culture.
History as a dividing factor
Today, the region’s history puts a strain on coexistence, especially since Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Many Estonians are calling for Soviet symbols to be removed from the cityscape. When the “Soviet Tank” monument was removed from Narva in 2022, there was a lot of excitement. It stood at the point where the Red Army drove German troops out of the city during World War II. The older population of Narva in particular associates the old Soviet monuments with lively holidays from their youth.
Maria Smorshevskihh-Smirnova, the director of the Narva Museum, also caused outrage with an action. In 2022 she took the Lenin statue out of the city and received a lot of criticism from residents. But Smorshevskihh-Smirnova thinks that this step was important: “We have to understand that our city today does not fit in with Lenin at all, and I am very happy that we have now taken this step that we would have taken in the 1990s have to go.”
With her exhibitions, Smorshevskihh-Smirnova wants to educate the population of Narva about the city’s past. She speaks of a coexistence of two perspectives: “Large parts of the Russian population see the Soviet occupation as liberation from the Nazis. But they have to understand that the Estonian population does not see this as liberation, but clearly as the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union.”
Smorshevskihh-Smirnova finds that Russian propaganda supports the image of liberation by the Soviets. Many Narva residents get their information from Russian media.
Language as a point of contention
Their language, Russian, is protected by the constitution. But Estonia wants to promote the spread of the national language even more, and that worries many residents of Narva. While Estonia previously allowed lessons in Russian, school education is to be gradually converted entirely to Estonian from August 1, 2024.
In a city like Narva this is a big problem. Around 150 teachers are threatened with dismissal because they do not speak Estonian – a high number for a population of around 50,000.
A teacher reassures
Alyona Kordontschuk does not share these concerns. She is the head teacher at one of the few Estonian-speaking schools in Narva. She is convinced that the children will cope well, and parents shouldn’t panic: “It’s good that our children will feel even more secure when they come to university. Many school leavers are currently going abroad. Not because they are so rich or ambitious, but because they don’t know Estonian until the 12th grade, but they know English.”
Many parents criticize that the pressure to learn the language has only increased since 2022. The implementation would now be too abrupt. Even after gaining independence, there should have been more Estonian in schools, they believe.
Kasa, the former textile worker, still feels comfortable in Narva today. Although she is dissatisfied with the Estonian government’s policies, she does not want to talk about it in more detail. She is happy that her son stayed in Narva and found a job.
Most of her friends’ children moved from Narva to the capital Tallinn because of a lack of job opportunities. They quickly learned Estonian there.
You can also see these and other reports in Weltspiegel – on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on Erste.