August 2025. We’re travelling to the Baltic States: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and more specifically their respective capitals Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. Are they interconnected by rail? Yes, but not in the most straightforward or userfriendly way possible. The Rail Baltica project should remedy this. Unsurprisingly though, this megaproject faces political and budgetary hurdles. It will most likely not be ready by 2030. But that doesn’t stop us. What to expect from the Baltics? Is it affected by  overtourism? 

After lunch involving bear meatballs, yes bear meat, at Russian restaurant Troika, we headed to Vabamu Museum of Occupations and Freedom (Okupatsioonide ja vabaduse muuseum Vabamu). 

The Vabamu is located at the corner of Toompea Street and Kaarli Boulevard. Opened on 1 July 2003, it is dedicated to the period between 1940 and 1991 in Estonian history, when the country was occupied first by the Soviet Union, then by Nazi Germany, and once again by the Soviet Union. 

For most of this time, Estonia existed as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. The museum is operated by the Kistler-Ritso Estonian Foundation, established by Olga Kistler-Ritso, who was its founder, president, and principal benefactor. The foundation began collecting artefacts for the museum and for historical research in 1999, working with the Estonian International Commission for the Investigation of the Crimes Against Humanity, the Estonian State Commission on the Examination of the Policies of Repression, the Memento Association, the Research Centre of the Soviet Era in Estonia, the Russian Memorial Society dedicated to victims of Soviet repression, and other organisations.

Vabamu is the largest active non-profit private museum in Estonia. Its mission is to educate Estonians and international visitors about the country’s recent past, to convey the fragility of freedom, and to advocate for justice and the rule of law. It operates in three main areas: the Vabamu Museums, the Youth Engagement NoVa initiative, and the Global Conversations programme.

Freedom without borders

The museum’s main permanent display, ‘Freedom Without Borders‘, examines the themes of occupation, resistance, freedom, and recovery. It is divided into five sections: ‘Crimes Against Humanity‘, ‘Estonians in the Free World‘, ‘Life in Soviet Estonia‘, the ‘Restoration of Independence, and Freedom‘.

The ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ section reflects on moments when human dignity was systematically denied. ‘Estonians in the Free World’ explores the experiences of Estonians living abroad and in exile. 

The ‘Life in Soviet Estonia’ section is divided into two parts: the first examines the introduction of Soviet rule and the ideological choices individuals faced, while the second addresses cultural specificities and everyday life in the Soviet Union. 

The ‘Restoration of Independence’ section covers the period from the Phosphorite War of 1987 through the Singing Revolution to Estonia’s accession to the European Union in 2004, focusing on the experiences of eight individuals largely absent from conventional historical narratives. 

The ‘Freedom’ section considers liberty as a state of tension requiring balance between freedoms and responsibilities.

Visitors are guided through the exhibition by a specially designed e-tour guide available in nine languages: Estonian, Russian, English, Finnish, German, French, Spanish, Latvian, and Lithuanian. 

LGBT audio tour

Since 9 June 2023, Vabamu has also incorporated into its permanent display an audio journey titled ‘From ‘Such people’ to LGBT activism‘, which examines the stories of sexual and gender minorities in twentieth-century Estonia. Available in Estonian, English, and Russian, the journey draws attention to both new and existing artefacts to help visitors understand the experiences of LGBT people, addressing questions about their treatment during World War II, public and private discourse on homosexuality in Soviet Estonia, the path to decriminalisation, and the role of marriage in the lives of homosexual people in both Soviet times and the present day. 

The curator is Rebeka Põldsam, a doctoral student in ethnology at the University of Tartu. The audio journey is part of the project ‘Practices and Challenges of Mnemonic Pluralism in Baltic History Museums‘ (PRG1097), led by the university’s department of ethnology and supported by the Estonian Research Council, the Cultural Endowment of Estonia, and the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation.

Temporary

In addition to its permanent displays, Vabamu hosts temporary exhibitions. 

When we were there, it presented ‘Defending Freedom: Estonian Civil Society in the Russo-Ukrainian War‘. This exhibition explores how Estonia’s civil society and state institutions have contributed to supporting Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, a conflict seen in Estonia as a struggle not only for Ukraine’s freedom but also for the liberty of the wider region. 

It addresses the atrocities committed by Russian forces and the ways in which these have galvanised Estonian society to provide assistance through volunteer work, fundraising, humanitarian aid, protests, and direct support to both the military and civilians. 

The exhibition notes that over 159,000 Ukrainian citizens have arrived in Estonia since 2022, with many receiving international or temporary protection, and examines how civil society has adapted during this period, including the impact of corruption scandals on public trust and donations. 

It highlights cooperation between Estonian and Ukrainian organisations in areas such as education for Ukrainian children, medical aid, and the acquisition of military equipment. 

A visit

We were pleasantly surprised there is an LGBT tour. For Danny, it shows how Estonia, which opened marriage to same-sex couples in 2024 (and thus after launching the LGBT tour), underlines its openness in contrast to reactionary conservatism in the Russian Federation and abroad. 

The tour is interesting and teaches how different the world was until the 1980s. Nostalgia to the ‘good old days’ is all fun and games until you delve into the zeitgeist of the time. 

A must-visit museum in Tallinn!

Estonia during World War II

Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Estonia declared neutrality; however, its fate was irrevocably altered by the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, a non-aggression agreement between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which secretly apportioned Eastern European countries into spheres of influence. 

Estonia fell within the Soviet sphere. In June 1940, the Soviet Red Army invaded and occupied Estonia, and by August the country was formally annexed as part of the USSR. This marked the end of Estonia’s independence. The occupation was followed by widespread political repression, mass deportations and executions at the hands of the Soviet regime.

In June 1941, the German invasion of the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa) reached Estonia. Amid this turmoil, the Forest Brothers—a pro-independence partisan movement—regained control of parts of southern Estonia by defeating Soviet forces before the arrival of the German 18th Army. However, the Soviet forces had also engaged in scorched-earth tactics, including looting and killings, ordered by Joseph Stalin.

Once under German control, Estonia was incorporated into the Reichskommissariat Ostland, a civilian administration under the Nazis. Thousands of Estonians were compelled to serve in the armies of both occupying powers. 

Many were conscripted into Soviet units such as the 8th Estonian Rifle Corps in 1941, and from 1941 to 1944, many others served in German forces, including the Waffen-SS 20th Estonian Division. Some Estonians evaded this fate by escaping to Finland, where they formed the Finnish Infantry Regiment 200.

Under Nazi occupation, Estonia was exploited as part of Germany’s war effort. The regime instituted oppressive administration, economic exploitation, and mass repression. 

The local Jewish community was virtually annihilated, with the few survivors deported or exterminated. Forced-labour and concentration camps—most notably Vaivara and its subcamp Klooga—were established, incarcerating and killing Jews from Estonia and other countries. 

The Vaivara main camp held up to 20,000 prisoners, the majority Jewish; at Klooga, an estimated 1,800–2,000 prisoners died from executions, disease, and harsh conditions.

In the closing phase of the German occupation, in September 1944, acting President Jüri Uluots appointed Otto Tief’s government in a desperate bid to restore Estonia’s independence in the brief interregnum before Soviet reoccupation. The attempt ultimately failed to secure international recognition or actual sovereignty.

Between February and September 1944, Soviet forces advanced through Estonia as part of their Baltic Offensive. Battles raged across the Narva front and the Sinimäed Hills, where Estonians fought—in many cases unwillingly—for both German and Soviet armies. By autumn 1944, mainland Estonia had fallen under Soviet control once more, and the country was reoccupied. 

Following the war, Estonia remained within the Soviet Union as the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic until independence was restored in 1991.

The human toll of the war was staggering. Losses—including those from Soviet deportations and executions, German repression, wartime casualties, the Holocaust, and forced displacement—are estimated at around 81,000 people, amounting to about 25% of the pre-war population. 

Estonia’s unique ethnic minorities—Germans, Swedes and Jews—either evacuated or were exterminated. Tens of thousands of Estonians fled to the West, and Baltic Germans were resettled. The population was irreversibly altered, and the loss of life and displacement profoundly affected Estonian society.

The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic

The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic—commonly abbreviated as the Estonian SSR—was a union republic of the Soviet Union, formalising Soviet control over Estonia following the invasion and occupation by the USSR in June 1940. A puppet Stalinist government, supported by the Red Army, declared the replacement of the independent Republic of Estonia with the Estonian SSR on 21 July 1940. Within a matter of weeks, on 6 August 1940, it was incorporated into the Soviet Union as one of its constituent republics.

The majority of Western countries refused to recognise the Soviet annexation. While many acknowledged the Soviet-installed regime de facto, they did not accept Estonia’s legal incorporation, continuing to recognise Estonian diplomats in exile. This adherence to the principle of legal continuity underpinned Estonia’s claim to sovereignty throughout the Soviet period.

The period of Nazi occupation that followed between 1941 and 1944 saw Estonia administered as part of Reichskommissariat Ostland. Upon Soviet reconquest in 1944, the Estonian SSR was reinstated and remained within the Soviet Union until the dissolution of USSR in 1991.

Economically and socially, Soviet rule brought sweeping transformations, beginning with the nationalisation of land, banks, large industrial enterprises, and the suppression of private business. Land reforms reduced peasants to small plots, while industrial machinery and economic structures from the pre-war era were dismantled, often relocated, or destroyed. Many scholars describe this as internal colonialism, given the systematic exploitation of Estonia’s resources and workforce within broader Soviet production chains. 

The Red Army’s scorched-earth retreat in 1941 further devastated infrastructure, destroying power plants, vehicles, and livestock, while population displacement and attrition significantly affected Estonian society.

Furthermore, the Soviet era was marked by large-scale deportations and repression. Tens of thousands of Estonians — including political leaders, intellectuals, and military officers — were deported to Siberia or executed in the years 1940–41 and again after 1944. The ethnic composition of Estonia changed considerably, as Soviet migration policies introduced significant Russian-speaking populations; the proportion of ethnic Estonians dropped from approximately 88 percent in 1934 to around 62 percent by 1989.

The Estonian SSR initially adhered to the Stalinist constitution framework. A constitution was adopted on 25 August 1940, closely modelled on the 1936 Soviet Constitution. It abolished private ownership and formally instituted socialist state structures across economic and governmental institutions.

In terms of administrative divisions, Estonia’s pre-war counties were maintained until around 1950, when Soviet administrative reforms dissolved them into raions and briefly oblasts. A raion is a standardized administrative entity across most of the former Soviet Union and is usually a subdivision two steps below the national level.

In the late 1980s, Estonia became a forerunner in the Soviet Union’s national sovereignty movement. On 16 November 1988, the Estonian SSR issued a sovereignty declaration affirming the primacy of Estonian laws within its territory. 

On 30 March 1990, the parliament declared Soviet rule illegal and initiated Estonia’s transition back to full independence. In May 1990, the official name and symbols of the Soviet republic—including the flag and emblem—were formally abandoned in favour of the Republic of Estonia.

Ultimately, on 20 August 1991, Estonia restored its full independence; this was swiftly recognised by the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Estonia emerged once more as a sovereign republic following more than five decades under Soviet control.

By 1989, the Estonian SSR encompassed an area of approximately 45,227 km² and had a population of around 1.565 million. Its capital was Tallinn, the currency was the Soviet rouble, and it used the +7 country calling code.

LGBTQIA+ rights in Estonia

Estonia has witnessed remarkable progress in LGBTQIA+  rights since regaining independence, emerging as the most progressive among post-Soviet nations in this domain. 

Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Estonia ever since 1992 (after being legal initially between 1935 and 1940), and the age of consent was equalised in 2002.

In respect of gender identity, individuals have been permitted to change their legal gender since 1992, and since 1997 there has been no requirement for sterilisation or surgery to do so. 

Discrimination protections are firmly in place: sexual orientation is explicitly protected in employment, and gender identity receives implicit protection under Estonian law across all areas.

Recognition of same-sex relationships began with the introduction of cohabitation agreements on 1 January 2016. Such agreements afford same-sex couples the same legal protections as opposite-sex couples. 

This was a turning point, but full marriage equality followed later. On 20 June 2023, the Estonian Parliament or Riigikogu passed legislation amending the Family Law Act to allow two adults of any gender to marry. This ground-breaking bill, passed by 55 votes to 34, took effect on 1 January 2024, making Estonia the first Baltic country—and the first post-Soviet state—to legalise same-sex marriage.

Alongside marriage equality, the legislation also granted full adoption rights to married same-sex couples from 2024. 

Before this, same-sex couples could adopt stepchildren due to the Registered Partnership Act, and single LGBTQIA+ individuals were also permitted to adopt. Joint adoption by same-sex partners became legally possible only when marriage equality became effective.

Legal recognition in the military is similarly inclusive: LGBTQIA+ persons are allowed to serve openly, although some individuals have reportedly been subject to additional medical assessments. Nonetheless, homosexuality is generally not considered an obstacle to service.

Regarding public attitudes, support for marriage equality grew significantly over the years. In 2012, only around 34% of Estonians supported same-sex marriage. By 2023, this had climbed to 53%. Support is particularly strong among younger citizens: among those aged 20–29, approval reached approximately 75%.

Despite these legal and social advances, opposition persists, particularly among religious communities. The Estonian Council of Churches, representing mainstream Christian denominations, has vocally opposed both the Registered Partnership Act (2014) and marriage equality, advocating a constitutional definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

On the organisation front, Estonia hosts an active LGBTQIA+ community. The Estonian LGBT Association, founded in 2008 in Tartu (originally called Eesti Gei Noored), serves the public via education, sexual-orientation awareness, and advocacy. 

Another notable group is Geikristlaste Kogu, an NGO for LGBTQ Christians founded in Tallinn in 2010, which supports homosexual Christians through community building and spiritual growth.

Baltic States 2025

1. REVIEW | The Loft by Brussels Airlines and Lexus business lounge at Brussels Airport A-Gates.
2. REVIEW | Brussels Airlines Business Class Brussels to Munich.
3. REVIEW | Lufthansa Business Lounge Schengen and Lufthansa Senator Business Lounge Satellite Schengen at Munich Airport Terminal 2.
4. REVIEW | Air Baltic Business Class Munich to Tallinn.
5. REVIEW | Swissotel Tallinn.
6. TALLINN | Lennusadam Seaplane Harbour Estonian Maritime Museum.
7. TALLINN | Estonian History Museum at the Great Guild Hall.