Text: TRPS Press service
The Association for (the protection of) The Peace Treaty of Tartu of 1920 (with Russia)
strongly condemns any further bilateral border-discussions with Russia which are not based on the restoration of Estonia's territorial integrity as (in 1920 bi-laterally) concluded within the said peace treaty's text.
The TRPS demands the restoration of the Estonian-Russian border as indicated in the 1920 Peace Treaty of Tartu and annulling of the new (Estonian-Russian) border treaty which, despite its being in total violation of the Estonian Constitution, was bilaterally signed in Moscow on May 18th, 2005 and approved by the Estonian Parliament on June 20th, 2005 (Transl. note: Russia subsequently withdrew its signature).
Accordingly, a moratorium must be imposed to stop all attempts to change the legal Estonian-Russian border.
Despite the fact that Russia presently occupies and had annexed 5.2 percent of Estonia's territory, the Peace Treaty of Tartu has never lost its status and is recognized by international law.
This fact is indicated also in Paragraph § 122 of the Estonian Constitution which states that the Estonian-Russian land border is defined within the (context of the) 1920 Peace Treaty of Tartu. Paragraph § 2 of the said document states that Estonia's territory is undivisible and whole.
The "new" border corresponds with the legal (Peace Treaty of Tartu) border over a mere 16-kilometer length and this, not even along land, but along a section of Lake Peipsi (The entire Estonian-Russian border measures 350 Km in length).
To insinuate that this "new" border in any which way corresponds with the 1920 Peace Treaty of Tartu or with the Estonian Constitution is nothing less than an ill-willed demagogic lie.
Such a statement should never be made by any of Estonia's politicians, but belongs rather in the realm of the enemy's soliloquy, indicates TRPS Chairman Henn Põlluaas.
Changes to the Estonian-Russian border can only be initiated by a popular referendum which would serve as basis for legally enacting a change to the Constitution.
A popular vote recently carried out during the ETV program "Forum" showed that 82.5% of Estonia's population is against abandoning the borders which were spelled out in the Peace Treaty of Tartu.
TRPS maintains that the "new" border treaty, which was conceived against the will of the people and which was ratified by the (Estonian) Parliament, was legally null and void from the instant of its conception since Paragraph § 123 of the Constitution forbids the conclusion of external treaties which contradict the (Estonian) Constitution.
Mr. Henn Põlluaas notes that "All attempts at destroying Estonia's territorial integrity, to voluntarily hand over for free the (Estonian) territories lying to the east of the Narva River and those in Petseri would be the equivalent of recognizing the Stalinist occupation and the annexation (of Estonia) and therefore would be tantamount to treason."
The duty of us all, and particularly that of all of our politicians, is to defend Estonia's interests and its continued existence and to pass (the country) on to our children in the form in which it was created.
TRSP appeals to all Estonians to demand the restoration of Estonia's legal borders.
Contact address: Henn Põlluaas, TRPS Chairman, Telephone: +372 565-1087
E-Mail:
İndependent İnfobase:
www.si.kongress.ee