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On the information published in a news programme of Swedish TV
13.06.1998

President of the Republic of Estonia, who, giving an interview on June 12, 1998, for the news programme that was broadcasted on Channel 2 of the Swedish National TV, learned at 15.45 on June 12, 1998, about three major Nazi magazines spreading hatred for immigrants and the Jewish people being printed in Tallinn, has informed Olari Taal, Minister of the Interior Affairs, of these facts.
The President wished that the Minister's subordinate institutions be ordered to investigate the origins of the resources used for the printing of such magazines that can seriously undermine the reputation of Estonia.
The President emphasised that in a democratic state it is impossible to fight for democracy using totalitarian measures.
Estonian has a working legal system and denounces all kinds of extremist occurrences, as was proved by the prohibition to publish '' The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' in Estonia.
The President also informed the Swedish journalists on June 11 about the information that had been brought to his knowledge by the Jewish community of Estonia, namely that the funds for the printing of ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' in Estonia were obtained from Sweden. As the Head of State remarked, the fact that the resources for printing materials inciting hatred between nations have come from Sweden does not mean that Sweden is the centre of the European Anti-Semitism, because it is possible that the money only travels via Sweden.
President Lennart Meri appreciated the work that two Swedish TV journalists have done within three months. It is the most exemplary journalism that investigates dangerous tendencies that could incite hostility between nations and destabilise states.

 

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