Main narratives:
- General anti-government sentiments;
- Russophobic rhetoric.
Overview:
The second week of January 2025 has brought many heated debates with speculative messages regarding the expected renaming of the Russian Theatre in Tallinn. The theatre’s management has stressed that this is not just a formal change of signage, but a reflection of internal changes in the theatre, as the issue is being actively discussed due to the changing geopolitical situation around Estonia. Critics have angrily suggested that the theatre is under political pressure from the ‘Russophobic’ government, which is trying to ban anything to do with Russian culture and language in Estonia. Moreover, some pro-Kremlin commentators have accused the government of rewriting history, as the theatre was established in Tallinn in 1948, and have spread the messages in Facebook groups and Telegram channels about the following waves of cancellation culture in Estonia, which will additionally discriminate against the local Russian-speaking population.
The status of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC MP) once again sparked a storm of emotional debate on social media. This was triggered by the news that the government will discuss a draft amendment to the Law on Churches and Communities in the coming weeks and is likely to submit it to the parliament. The proposal aims to ban the activities of churches in Estonia that are linked to organisations that support military aggression and violence. For the EOC MP, this would mean severing all ties with the Russian orthodox church authorities in Moscow. Otherwise, the church could face forced liquidation by court order. Pro-Kremlin social media users, echoing Russian propaganda, began claiming that the liquidation of the EOC MP had already been decided.
