Looking at an ordinary map of Estonia, Narva is simply another city on the eastern borders of the European Union. But in fact, the city of around 52,000 is more significant than that. Narva, in Estonia's Russian-speaking east, is becoming a flashpoint for debates about European security, identity and the future of the bloc.
Part of the reason for this are calls for the city's secession from Estonia, a member of the EU, on social media and platforms like Telegram. These calls advocate for a so-called "People's Republic of Narva" and even include a flag and a coat of arms, methods that remind observers of pro-Russian propaganda about Crimea in Ukraine.
Estonian intelligence services have described the rumors as provocative and many locals dismiss them as nonsense.
Are there secessionists in Narva?
In Narva itself, life goes on as usual. The shop facades are an interesting mix of Soviet-era styles and contemporary European logos but the streets are not crowded today. A cold wind from Finland blows across the Narva river. On the other side of the waterway is the Russian city of Ivangorod.
Narva still has distinct ties to Russia. Only about 2% of its residents speak Estonian at home. Most speak Russian. A third of the population holds a Russian passport.
The Russian border is open but can only be crossed during the day, on foot. Cars and buses cannot currently cross the bridge, which is undergoing maintenance until the end of the year. This decision to ban vehicles was made by Russian authorities.
For many of Narva's inhabitants, crossing the bridge, and the border, is a regular part of daily life. Some go shopping, others visit relatives.The fact that ethnic Russians make up the majority in a city bordering Russia has led observers to draw parallels to Donbas and Crimea in Ukraine, and Transnistria, which is near Ukraine and Moldova. In each of those places there are locals who do want to join up with Russia.
Important EU connections
But Narva also has strong ties to Europe. It's often described as the city where Europe begins and many locals are proud of this.
In September last year, Europe's largest rare-earth magnet factory opened in Narva. It was funded by the EU and will produce magnets for electric vehicles, wind turbines and microelectronics. Up until now, most of these magnets have been imported from China so the Narva factory is an important step towards strategic autonomy for the EU.
For all these sorts of reasons, Narva's mayor Katri Raik isn't too worried about any alleged separatist tendencies.
"The people of Narva are worried about their city's image," she explains. "Such reports give us negative publicity and nobody wants that. Our people love their city and simply don't have time to invent these kinds of stories."
On the streets, it's hard to find anybody who wants to talk politics. "I'm not interested in any of that," an elderly passer-by tells DW. "I've lived in Narva a long time and the city is what it is. It is always going to be my city."
If you ask locals about the idea of a "People's Republic of Narva," most will either say it's fake or a joke.
"Complete nonsense," one local says. "Unimaginable."
"I don't think the residents of Narva would want to be part of Russia. I don't know anyone who would," another protests.
Depressed economy to blame
Local journalist Roman Vikulov can't imagine there's much support for secession from Estonia. "There are no separatists in Narva," he states.
Vikulov concedes that there may well be people in Narva who don't see many prospects for themselves in Estonia. "There's a lot of disappointment and deep depression," he explained. "The mood is bad all over. But it's not aggressive."
People move out of the city because they simply can't see a future for themselves here, he argues, not because they want to join Russia or leave Estonia.
They leave due to "frustration and insecurity about Narva's future," he continues. "And this is directly related to the situation our eastern neighbor [Russia] is in. For a long time, we had good prospects as a border city. We expected streams of people who would spend their money here. But that bubble has long since burst."
Almost everyone you speak to says life in Estonia is much better than in Russia. Those short trips across the border make that clear.
One of the examples locals point to is the construction of a promenade alongside both sides of the river, something the EU actually contributed funding towards as part of a program to promote tourism and good relations between Ivangorod and Narva.
Estonian advantages over Russia
On the Estonian side there is now a pleasant walkway on the riverbank. Meanwhile the walkway on the Russian side is significantly shorter and the quality of the construction markedly worse, the city's residents point out.
That is despite the fact that the Russians got more money — $1.2 million (€1.04 million) — for the construction project than the Estonians did: $830,000 (€720,000). A 2017 report by the New York Times concluded that corruption was to blame for the Russian promenade's failings.
These are the sorts of comparisons that you can easily make on a weekly basis, says Narva journalist Sergei Stepanov. Ivangorod is more depressed, people are poorer, pensions in the Russian region of Leningrad are around three times less than those in Estonia.
That is why Stepanov can't imagine many locals would support breaking away from Estonia the way that Russian-speaking locals did elsewhere. "People just don't want to go to Russia," he says.
The city council's deputy chairperson, Jana Kondrashova, sees it a little differently.
"There are always going to be people who have a more radical worldview," she admits. "Of course, we have people like that too but it's not a widespread phenomenon."
What does Russia think about Narva?
None of that means that Russian imperialists and nationalists have forgotten about Narva.
In 2022, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned Narva as one of the Russian territories Peter the Great of Russia "reclaimed" in a 1704 battle. The statement caused protests in Estonia at the time.
Additionally, ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russians have held a festival annually on May 9th, the occasion of the Russian celebrations commemorating the end of World War II, on their side of the Narva River.
It features Soviet symbols that have been banned in Estonia, Russian pop stars and a live broadcast of the parades on Red Square in Moscow, as well as Russian pop stars. The stage and screen in Ivangorod is always positioned on the riverbank so it's clearly visible to people in Narva too.
This story was originally written in Russian.
Estonian city faces Russian-language separatist campaign
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