Main narratives:
- Anti-government sentiments;
- Anti-EU sentiments;
- Militarised Russophobia in Estonia.
Overview:
The main topic of the week was the celebration of the Day of Restoration of Independence. On August 20, posts began circulating in Russian-speaking Facebook groups claiming that, in honor of Estonia’s Restoration of Independence Day, a shooting range had been set up near the Tallinn TV Tower where adults and children could fire at targets depicting Russian soldiers. The latter were symbolized as cartoonish green monsters wearing ushankas, military uniforms with the Russian flag, and the letter Z. It later turned out that the controversial images were intended by the organizers not as shooting targets but as caricatures. Nevertheless, this gave pro-Russian users as well as Russian state media grounds to claim that Estonia was allegedly “instilling nationalism in children.” Such incidents once again demonstrate that, in the context of the information war, any careless action by official bodies can be exploited as a hostile information attack.
Last week, pro-Kremlin online commentators joined the heated debate over the European Union’s refugee relocation scheme. This scheme obliges Estonia to either accept 79 asylum seekers, send specialists to assist in southern Europe, or pay a €1.7 million fine. The government indicated that it was leaning towards sending experts rather than accepting refugees or paying the fine, reflecting a broader political consensus that Estonia should resist mandatory quotas. Interior Minister Igor Taro reiterated that Estonia would not accept refugees under the quota system, instead pointing to the country’s significant responsibility for tens of thousands of Ukrainians. Other politicians voiced similar scepticism, arguing that refugees should remain closer to their regions of origin and that Brussels should bear a greater share of the costs. While public opinion largely aligned with these positions, pro-Kremlin commentators criticised the government for not resisting pressure from Brussels more strongly, portraying the available options as an external threat to Estonian sovereignty.
