Finland Dismantles Controversial ‘World Peace’ Statue Gifted By The Soviet Union
The relationship between Finland and Russia has seemed to have soured, with the former removing a World Peace statue donated by the Soviet Union from its pedestal in Helsinki.
According to EuroWeekly News, Moscow had donated the statue to Finland in 1989, with the landmark publicly unveiled the following year.
The monument has seen its fair share of vandalism attempts over the decades, including students who defaced it with tar in 1991, and an attempt to blow the entire thing up in 2010.
âš¡ï¸ Photo of the dismantling of the monument «World Peace» presented to Finland by the USSR. https://t.co/4ImqoqJ97T pic.twitter.com/W8Ttcfp9ZX
— Flash (@Flash43191300) August 8, 2022
As reported by YLE, the controversial work—which is owned by the Helsinki Art Museum—is scheduled to be transported out of the city by sea on a barge, and will be placed in a designated warehouse in Eastern Uusimaa.
The movers only took five minutes to dismantle the towering monument, which will now be replaced by a pavement, in preparation for a tramway currently being constructed in the region.
Earlier this year, the words “world peace” were found inscribed on the statue’s base, with it covered in Ukrainian flags in a show of support for the nation as it battles Russian invasion.
A heated public debate quickly followed about the monument’s place in the city, with the final decision made to remove it this week.
The Helsinki authorities dismantled the monument "Peace in the World" presented to Finland by the Soviet Union.
— Lucy Gatsby (@LucyGatsby) August 8, 2022
This was reported by YLE TV company.
The six-meter sculpture was installed in January 1990. The monument depicts people from different continents holding a globe. pic.twitter.com/VIZweLlgLs
[via EuroNews Weekly and Anadolu Agency, cover image via Farmer | Dreamstime.com]
