Russian councilor petitions for town to join Estonia

Tallinn - A Russian councilor in the border town of Ivangorod is collecting signatures in support of the community becoming part of Estonia, the Estonian daily newspaper Postimees reported Thursday.

Yuri Gordeyev, 66, said he has collected 650 signatures calling for a referendum on the matter, as part of a protest against budget cuts by Russian authorities.

Copies of his petition have reportedly been sent to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves.

Rather than being a serious attempt to secede from Russia, the petition is intended to draw attention to funding differences in Ivangorod and Narva on the easternmost edge of the European Union, Gordeyev said.

"I understand very well that this will never happen as no one would allow us to do such a thing," Gordeyev said.

Ivangorod is separated from the Estonian town of Narva by a bridge across the River Narva and was part of Estonia until the Baltic state was occupied by Soviet forces in 1940.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/317652,russian-councillor-petitions-for-town-to-join-estonia.html.