Estonia is drafting a law on the removal of Soviet symbols
The Estonian Ministry of Justice and Digital Technologies plans to submit a new bill to parliament this fall. It is intended to regulate the procedure for removing Soviet symbols from public spaces, particularly from sites that are under state protection as cultural heritage monuments.
The need to draft a new law arose after President Alar Karis refused in March 2023 to approve amendments to the Building Code that had been adopted by Parliament.
At the time, the Estonian head of state noted that the document was unconstitutional due to a lack of legal clarity.
Now, Minister of Justice and Digital Technologies Liisa-Li Pakosta has stated that the main subject of the dispute remains buildings and other structures bearing Soviet symbols that were erected to demonstrate the power of the Soviet regime.
In her view, such structures should not be considered the most valuable part of Estonia’s cultural heritage and may be removed from state protection.
At the same time, some experts advocate for preserving their protected status, which is why discussions surrounding the bill continue.
Marek Reinaas, chairman of the Estonian Parliament’s Economic Committee, announced that an agreement had been reached between the committee and the Ministry of Justice: the ministry will draft a new bill and submit it to parliament in the fall, after which lawmakers will begin reviewing it.
According to him, some Soviet symbols have already been removed, but many sites remain under state protection, and this issue specifically requires a separate legislative solution.
Pakosta also noted that the preparation of the amendments had been delayed due to disagreements with the Ministry of Culture.
For its part, the Ministry of Culture stated that it had not received any requests regarding the preparation of this bill since the spring of 2025.
This was reported by ERR.
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