Erna Raid

The Erna Raid ( _et. Erna retk) is an annual international military exercise and competition, one of the longest and most difficult in the world, held every August since 1995 in Estonia. It is organised by the Erna Society and commemorates the actions of the long-range recce group Erna in the summer of 1941.British Embassy in Tallinn August 5, 2006: [http://www.britishembassy.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1046181016323&a=KArticle&aid=1156398966204 ERNA RAID 2006 1–5 August] ]

Composition

The traditional parts of the competition are:
* landing, in rubber boats, to a "hostile" shore;
* cross-country tactical movement and navigation, without night campdown, over a distance of around 150 kilometres while avoiding and escaping from "hostile" security forces;
* various (and varying over years) minigames during the course. These may involve grenade throwing, combat first aid and other military skills.

Participation

Foreign teams have always been welcome to partake in the competition. In 2007, 28 teams from 9 different countries are scheduled for participation: Estonia (18 teams), Czech Republic (1), Denmark (1), Finland (2), Germany (1), Norway (2), Portugal (1), Sweden (1) and USA (1), of which Portugal and Czech Republic are newcomers. Teams from United Kingdom have participated in earlier years (most recently, a British Territorial Army team in 2006) but will only be observing in 2007. A team from Cyprus will also be observing. Teams from People's Republic of China have been traditionally successful in the competition and took 1st and 2nd place in 2002. Other successful teams have come from Finland and Norway.

History

The competition is named after the Erna long-range recce group ( _et. Erna luuregrupp) and themed after its activities in the summer of 1941.

Erna Society

In 1993, a group of enthusiasts followed the historical route of the Erna group of 1941, and came up with the idea of organizing a commemorative competition. A first try with only Estonian participants was held in 1994. In the autumn of 1994, the Erna society was founded, and in 1995, the first international competition was held, and has been so annually since then, growing in extent and number of participants over time.

Recent official Russian accusations of glorifying Nazism.

Since the competition's initiation, sectors of the Russian media claimed the competition's namesake was an attempt to glorify collaboration with the Nazi Germany [http://www.netinfo.ee/smi/print/?rid=22786&query= Хоть кровь из носу, но до цели дойдем] ru icon] [ [http://www.rusk.ru/newsdata.php?idar=206396 Эстонские власти вновь признались в любви к Гитлеру] ru icon] [ [http://www.niros.ru/news/9688.html В Эстонии играют в гитлеровцев] ru icon] [http://www.cir.ru/docs/http/www.budgetrf.ru/Publications/Magazines/VestnikSF/2006/VSF_NEW200702011802/VSF_NEW200702011802_p_002.htm Об участии эстонского легиона СС в военных преступлениях в 1941-1945 гг. и попытках пересмотра в Эстонии приговора Нюрнбергского трибунала] ru icon] . In 2007, high-ranking government officials sharply criticized the competition, generally calling it "glamorization of Nazism" and expressing outrage over NATO members participating in the competition. [http://www.rian.ru/review/20070806/70448837.html "Поход Эрна-2007". Часть истории или популяризация нацизма?] ru icon] [ [http://www.regnum.ru/english/866550.html Russia’s FM: Countries participating in Erna Raid taint cherished memory of their own soldiers] ] [ [http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/18451/ Russia complains about military competition] ] . Estonian officials attribute this recent development to the ongoing campaign for Russian presidential election, 2008 [Eesti Päevaleht 7 August 2007: [http://www.epl.ee/artikkel/395416 Paet: süüdistused on osa Vene valimiskampaaniast] ] . Russian officials claim that commemoration of the Erna group today is part of alleged efforts by the Estonian authorities to glorify Nazi past (other parts of it being relocation of war graves and an official greeting from the Minister of Defence to the participants of a gathering of Waffen SS veterans).

Analyst of the US based think tank Jamestown Foundation believes this view follows Soviet and post-Soviet Russia's official logic on two counts: first, that resistance to the Red Army was inherently illegitimate and conflatable with "fascism" in an occupied country or one targeted for occupation; second, that Estonia should be criticized for remembering an act of national resistance and its casualtiescite web |url=http://www.jamestown.org/print_friendly.php?volume_id=420&issue_id=4200&article_id= |title=PACE Chairman bending to the Kremlin wind against Estonia |publisher=Jamestown Foundation |date=2007-08-03 |accessdate=2007-08-09] .

Estonia's Minister of Defence, Jaak Aaviksoo called the accusations "regrettable" and recalled that the Erna group saved the lives of many civilians from the vengeful Soviet paramilitary units, and specifically pointed out cases of burning farmers alive along with their farms in Kautla. [cite web |url=http://www.kmin.ee/?op=news&id=1283&setlang=eng |title=Erna Raid and NKVD Destruction Battalions |publisher=Estonian Ministry of Defence |date=2007-08-09 |accessdate=2007-08-10] [cite news |url=http://www.postimees.ee/100807/esileht/siseuudised/276283.php |title=Aaviksoo: Erna retk ei möödunud ilma Venemaa laimukampaaniata |publisher=Postimees |date=2007-08-09 |accessdate=2007-08-09 et icon]

Past competitions

The table below records the final results for the year's competition. It does not include retired and disqualified teams. DL is the acronym for the Defence League.

References

External links

* [http://www.erna.ee/en/ Erna Society — Official webpage in English]