ESTONIAN-RUSSIAN BORDER TOWN WANTS TO REJOIN ESTONIA Ivangorod (Estonian: Jaanilinna / Finnish: Iivananlinna / Votic: Jaanilidna / Russian: Иванго́род) is a town located on the eastern bank of the Narva River by the Estonian-Russian border, 159 kilometers (99 mi) west of St. Petersburg. It is a major border crossing point and railway stop on the Tallinn – St. Petersburg line. It is located just opposite to the Estonian town of Narva. The town is the site of the Ivangorod Fortress, established in 1492 during the reign of Ivan III of Moscow and named after him. Between 1581–1590 and between 1612–1704, it was controlled by Sweden (Sweden-Finland). Ivangorod was granted town privileges and administered as a Russian township under the Crown of Sweden (who conquered it in 1612 from boyar Teuvo Aminev) until 1649, when its burghers were ordered to remove to a Narva suburb. In 1617, the Treaty of Stolbovo was signed between Russia and Sweden, which placed the area under the Swedish sovereignty. Russia reconquered it during the Great Northern War in 1704. Despite other changes in territory and sovereignty, Ivangorod was considered an administrative part of the town of Narva from 1649 until 1945. In 1780, Ivangorod, together with Narva, was included into Narvsky Uyezd of St. Petersburg Governorate. In 1796, Narvsky Uyezd was abolished and merged into Yamburgsky Uyezd. In the aftermath of the Estonian War of Independence, the newly independent Republic of Estonia established control over the whole of Narva, including Ivangorod, in January 1919, a move which was recognized by Soviet Russia in the 1920 Treaty of Tartu. In January 1945, the Narva River was defined as the border between the Estonian SSR and Russian SFSR, and as a result administration of Ivangorod was transferred from Narva to Kingiseppsky District of Leningrad Oblast. Having grown in population, Ivangorod was granted town status on October 28, 1954. After the restoration of Estonian independence in 1991, there have been some disputes about the Estonian-Russian border in the Narva area, as the new constitution of Estonia (adopted in 1992) recognizes the 1920 Treaty of Tartu border to be currently legal. The Russian Federation, however, has considered Estonia to be a successor of the Estonian SSR and recognizes the 1945 border between two former national republics. An Estonian-Russian border treaty was signed in 2005. However, due to continuing political tensions it has not been ratified. In 2010, people of Ivangorod sent a petition to the Russian and Estonian presidents urging them to allow their town to become part of Estonia. Ivangorod City Council Deputy Yury Gordeyev wrote the letter and sent the petitions to Moscow and Tallinn with the signature of over 660 citizens of Ivangorod, which has a population of about 11,000. The petition states that since Ivangorod and some other districts along the Russian-Estonian border were part of Estonia before the Soviet invasion of Estonia during World War II, the areas must be returned to Estonian jurisdiction. Currently, the talks to reunite Estonian pre-WWII areas continue. -
Posted on: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 03:04:48 +0000
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