07TALLINN290 cable

VZCZCXRO3015

00 RUE HAG RUEHROV

DE RUEHTL #0290/01 1221041

ZNY CCCCC ZZH

0 021041Z MAY 07

FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN

TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9787

INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

RUEHMO /AMEMBASSY MOSCOW IMMEDIATE 2491

RUEHRA/AMEMBASSY RIGA IMMEDIATE 2897

RUEHVL /AMEMBASSY VILNIUS IMMEDIATE 6649

RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS IMMEDIATE

RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO IMMEDIATE 1178

CONFIDENTIAL SECTION 01 OF 02 TALLINN 000290

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/02/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL RS EN

SUBJECT: ESTONIAN AMBASSADOR TO MOSCOW REPORTEDLY ATTACKED

Classified By: DCM Jeff Goldstein for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) .

^1 . (C) This is an urgent action request: see paragraph 5.

^2. (SBU) On the morning of May 2, the MFA called in resident
ambassadors to brief them on the security situation of
Estonia ' s

embassy in Moscow. The briefing included a readout of the
April 30-

May 1 visit of a delegation of Duma members to Tallinn
( septel ) .

MFA Director General for Non-European Russia, Simmu Tiik,
told the

meeting that Estonia considers the situation at their embassy
in

Moscow to be a "gross violation of the Vienna Convention and
a

matter for all of the EU." He termed the situation
"outrageous . "

Demonstrators have blocked access to the embassy, and embassy
officials are only able to enter and leave after asking in
advance for

police escort. From time-to-time the embassy is pelted with
rocks and

eggs, and the protesters are keeping up a barrage of loud
music to

prevent the Estonian staff (who live on the embassy compound)
from

sleeping. The protesters have told the Estonian press that
they are

financed by donations from private sources, but Tiik made
clear the

GOE believes they are financed by the GOR. (Note. Tiik also
provided a list of Russian government IP addresses that had
been used

in a denial of service attack aimed at shutting down official
Estonian

government web sites. The addresses came from institutions
such as

the Main Division of Information Resources for States Organs
of the

Russian Federation, located in the old Communist Party
Headquarters

complex on Staraya Ploshchad, and from one official in the
Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. )

J.3 . (SBU) Tiik indicated that, although Foreign Minister
Lavrov told

Foreign Minister Paet that Russia would fulfill all its
Vienna

obligations, the situation on the ground is quite different.
While in

Tallinn, members of the Duma delegation stated that the
Russian

authorities could clear away the blockade "in three minutes,"
but "we

prefer not to do so." Security officials outside the embassy
have

unofficially told members of the Estonian staff that
"somebody else is

in charge" of the handling of the situation.

^4. (SBU) During the briefing, Tiik was interrupted by word
that

Russian Ambassador to Moscow Marina Kaljurand, having left
the

embassy under police escort to attend a press conference at
the

headquarters of the newspaper Argumenty Fakty, had been
attacked

with tear gas during the press conference, and that her car,
which was

waiting outside the building, was surrounded by rioting youth
who

ripped off the Estonian flag. The MFA has also issued a
press

statement with this information.

^5. (C) Action Request: The Estonians seem to have chosen

to work through the EU to

seek a resolution to the security problems at their embassy
in Moscow. Post believes,

however, that it is important that the U.S. support the
Estonians in light of what appears

to be a clear failure by the Russian government to live up to
its obligation as host to

provide for the security and safe working environment of a
TALLINN 00000290 002 OF 002

diplomatic mission from a

country with which the U.S. is allied. Post therefore
requests that the Department

demarche the Russian embassy in Washington as soon as
possible to remind them of their

responsibilities to the diplomatic community in Moscow under
the Vienna Convention.

PHILLIPS