A year on, jury out on economic harm of Estonia's row with Russia

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2008

TALLINN (AFP) — A year after the Estonian capital Tallinn was trashed in demonstrations sparked by the relocation of a Soviet war memorial, the jury is still out on whether Russia has used backdoor trade sanctions to punish its Soviet-era vassal.

One recent official study said the tiny Baltic -- and European Union -- state lost an estimated 450 million euros (700 million dollars), nearly 3.0 percent of GDP, in business with Russia in the wake of the "Bronze Soldier" row.

The dip, however, was not reflected in Estonia's 2007 trade balance with Russia. To the contrary, its trade deficit decreased 68.4 percent.

The worst street violence in independent Estonia erupted on April 26, 2007 as protests by the country's sizable Russian minority against the shifting of...