Estonia Defies Kremlin, Renews Sovereignty Stand

The Parliament of the Soviet republic of Estonia defied the Kremlin on Wednesday by voting to keep in place the tiny Baltic state’s declaration of sovereignty.

Deputies in Estonia’s Supreme Soviet, meeting in Tallinn, voted 150 to 91 to stand by a decision they adopted overwhelmingly at a session last month that rejected changes to the Soviet constitution proposed by Moscow and reserved the right to veto any laws passed by central authorities.

Wednesday’s action came despite a subsequent decision by the nation’s highest body, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, calling the action unconstitutional. Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has also said the republic’s original declaration was totally unacceptable and has “no judicial backing.”

According to Estonian journalists who listened to radio broadcasts of the two-day session of the republic’s legislature, the deputies tried to steer a careful course between openly defying Moscow and showing their independence. In a subtly worded resolution, they voted to “follow the course” of the central legislature, which put off many crucial decisions on national policy, but ignored the Presidium’s denunciation.

Journalists said members of Parliament had based their latest decision on the fact that last week’s session of the Supreme Soviet in Moscow had not specifically declared the Estonian stand illegal.

“They tried to avoid saying a direct ‘no’ to Moscow because that is too dangerous at this point,” said Andres Raid, a reporter for Estonian television. “Sometimes glasnost (openness) is a matter of zigzag-nost, and what happened today was an effort by our legislature to zigzag a little past Moscow.

“It was unimaginable,” Raid said of Wednesday’s decision. “There was shouting and clapping and plenty of applause.”

Several speakers at last week’s session, which approved changes to the Soviet constitution, criticized the Estonian move, but no formal resolution was adopted.

Raid also said that Estonian leader Arnold Ruutel, rebuked by Gorbachev at the Presidium session, had adopted a careful approach in his address to the Estonian Parliament and did not call specifically for approval or rejection of the proposal to uphold the November decision.