The Bronze Soldier (originally Monument to Liberators of Tallinn) is a World War II monument in Tallinn, Estonia. The monument depicting an Estonian soldier in Soviet uniform was erected in the center of Tallinn in 1947 in the memory of the soldiers who died fighting for the USSR against nazi Germany. Enn Roos was the sculptor and Arnold Alas the architect. In 1964, an Eternal Flame was lit in front of the monument. The Eternal Flame, however, was put out as soon as Estonia's independence was reestablished. According to the records of the Military Commissariat of the Baltic Military District, 13 soldiers who fell during World War II were buried in a mass grave on Tõnismõgi Hill in April 1945. Many Estonians, including most members of Parliament and of the Estonian Government, are in favour of removing both the monument and the cemetery from the center of Tallinn despite protests by World War II veterans and the Russian-speaking Estonian community. Since the restoration of Estonian independence, World War II veterans and representatives of the Russian-speaking population have continued to gather at the monument on certain dates like May 9 (Victory Day) and September 22 (liberation of Tallinn from the German troops in 1944). The display of Soviet flags and other symbols at these gatherings has irritated Estonian nationalists and other Estonians who have bitter memories of the Soviet regime. This led to a non-violent confrontation of two groups at the monument on May 9, 2006. The tensions rose again in September 2006 and the police kept a 24-hour patrol in the area for several weeks. January 10, 2007, the Parliament passed the War Graves Protection Act, with 66 votes in favour and 6 against. Supporters of the monument maintain that this law was created to legitimize the disappearance of the Bronze Soldier. February 15, 2007, the Parliament approved the Law on Forbidden Structures by 46 votes to 44. This will ban public display of monuments that glorify the Soviet Union or Estonia's fifty years of Bolshevism (However it won't ban public display of monuments glorifying those fighting for the Nazis). The monument itself was specifically mentioned in a clause, and is to be dismantled within 30 days of the President signing it into law. The debate about the monument continues, the supporters claiming that the statue is a memorial for the Soviet soldiers who died liberating Europe from fascism. The ones who are against it, say that the the term "liberation" cannot apply for Eastern Europe, including Estonia, and that for the Estonians the statue is a reminder of the Soviet occupation which lasted for over 50 years and led to the death of thousands of innocent people. From Wikipedia

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