Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:45we discuss the identity,
00:00:47the external image of Narva, its image, tourist,
00:00:51cultural, and even political. This is not
00:00:54the first time we've addressed this topic, and previously we were more likely to discuss
00:00:58our modesty and indecision to use
00:01:02what truly distinguishes us in Estonia:
00:01:05the Russian language, Khrushchev-era buildings, and dachas, Soviet and
00:01:08imperial heritage. But recently, we are increasingly
00:01:12dictated what Narva should be like, which
00:01:15historical events, personalities, images, and characteristic
00:01:19features can be displayed, and which
00:01:22should not be mentioned. Just a week ago,
00:01:25a capital official reprimanded us for
00:01:28the name, not even... an existing tourist
00:01:31route. In general, Narva's right to
00:01:34distinctiveness will be discussed with studio guests after a news
00:01:38selection:
00:01:44The tourist route has not yet appeared, but its name
00:01:48already had to be changed. The idea of the "Royal Road" drew criticism
00:01:51from Tallinn Vice Mayor Riina Solman, who, during
00:01:55a visit to Narva, stated that the time for such
00:01:57projects has passed. But the dispute over a single name quickly turned into
00:02:01a much broader conversation: what from
00:02:04Narva's past can be used today to promote
00:02:07the city, and who generally should define its
00:02:11image? This is covered in Yevgeny
00:02:13Parov's material.
00:02:18Narva has already abandoned the idea of the "Royal Road,"
00:02:21but the dispute itself remains. What part of
00:02:24history can become the city's image, and which
00:02:27turns tourism into politics? Who generally
00:02:30draws this line? The occasion was the visit to Narva
00:02:34by Tallinn Vice Mayor Riina Solman. While granting the city
00:02:38the title of Autumn Capital, she criticized the idea
00:02:41of the "Royal Road" tourist route. According to Solman,
00:02:45the time for such projects has passed, and Narva should promote
00:02:48values important to the Estonian state.
00:02:51We are standing near a Khrushchev-era building here, we won't rename it,
00:02:55right? I don't know, somehow differently. This is
00:02:58one part of history, and our own. We should not be ashamed of our history, we must
00:03:02present it correctly. But the most wrong thing is to use
00:03:05politics, our good ideas.
00:03:09The name was eventually decided to be changed, but the question
00:03:12remained: what from Narva's past can be used to
00:03:15promote the city? Soviet architecture,
00:03:18imperial past, Russian-speaking environment, the very
00:03:21border – all of this is part of its history. But where
00:03:24does the story about it end, and politics begin?
00:03:28Narva's history, in principle, like any other
00:03:31history, in my opinion,
00:03:35is first and foremost about people. I'm not accidentally
00:03:38repeating that the human
00:03:42factor here is extremely important. So when
00:03:45it ends, it ends, perhaps
00:03:49precisely with respect for the work of previous
00:03:52generations, some kind of
00:03:55manipulation begins in those or other interests, then
00:03:59there, probably,
00:04:07But is it even possible today to separate interest in controversial pages of history from politics and use them to promote the city without
00:04:10causing new disputes? I think that in today's, with our
00:04:14current foreign policy, in today's geopolitical situation, this is
00:04:17impossible. It's impossible to do without any losses, primarily
00:04:21image losses for those, say, representatives of political parties and forces who
00:04:25will promote this. Whether we like it or not,
00:04:28we are part of the world community.
00:05:02Kohtla-Järve plans to install more surveillance
00:05:05cameras. The issue of security once again came into
00:05:09focus after a conflict on September
00:05:1213th in the territory of a garage cooperative on Endla Street. Several
00:05:16dozen people were involved in the clash. A 2-year-old
00:05:20Norwegian was killed. Several
00:05:23other people were injured. Four
00:05:25suspects in the case have been remanded in custody. Another
00:05:28is still being sought. A concrete plan to expand
00:05:32video surveillance already exists. There should be more
00:05:35cameras, and they will be more modern and
00:05:38of higher quality. After the incident, cameras are also planned to be installed
00:05:42at the garages on Endla
00:05:44Street. The detailed plan for the historical
00:05:48quarter of Rüütli Street was discussed this week in Narva
00:05:51City Hall. The plan provides for the restoration
00:05:54of the old street network, the formation of new quarters,
00:05:58and the development of public space. However, the citizens themselves
00:06:01seem not to be very interested in the future of this part
00:06:05of the old city yet. Only two
00:06:08people attended the public discussion. The next stage before.
00:06:42begin building. However, citizens still have
00:06:46time to influence the possible future appearance of the quarter.
00:06:49How actively they will engage in the discussion will become
00:06:52clearer if projects in this
00:06:55quarter someday begin to take on more concrete
00:06:59outlines. The abandoned building of the former kindergarten
00:07:01on Gerasimova A5, the city secured it with its
00:07:05own efforts. The building is in private ownership, but
00:07:08it was impossible to get the owner to comply. Despite
00:07:12the abandoned building remained
00:07:16numerous warnings, open for a long time, access inside
00:07:22which was used, among others, by students of the nearby
00:07:25Kreenholm School. The bailiff arrested this
00:07:28property,
00:07:31then announced auctions for the alienation of this property,
00:07:34but no one was willing to acquire it, since the object is located
00:07:38in close proximity to the school institution, to Kreenholm
00:07:41School, so... when it was decided to carry out the so-called substitute
00:07:45enforcement,
00:07:47this is when we ourselves perform part of the work that the owner
00:07:51should have performed within the framework of the order, but the expenses
00:07:55for these works will then be claimed through the bailiff.
00:07:59Narva theater center Vabalava is once
00:08:02again under threat of closure, there is not enough money
00:08:06for operations. At the same time, the theater Südalinna, formerly the Russian
00:08:09Theater, plans to work more actively in...
00:09:42this is a very heavy and serious burden, and the theater
00:09:45cannot cope with it independently for the sole reason that we don't have
00:09:49a permanent representative here, we don't have employees working
00:09:53here. Of course, that's why we appealed to the mayor's office for
00:09:56help. Yes, the agreement
00:09:59is financial, without financial obligations. We help
00:10:02them with information, meaning we help
00:10:05disseminate information in our city's posters, in our
00:10:09educational institutions, and that is wonderful. The discussion about
00:10:25Narva together with Narva residents addresses
00:10:28current, and sometimes pressing issues. Furthermore,
00:10:31Vabalava hosts the only youth theater in the city
00:10:35in Estonian. We are all
00:10:38taxpayers, quite generously
00:10:41financing various theaters in small towns in Estonia, like Rakvere
00:10:44and Viljandi. We thought that if there was
00:10:48one permanent,
00:10:51primarily Estonian-speaking theater,
00:10:55the only one to the east of
00:10:58Rakvere, then it would just be, well,
00:11:02logical and correct, everyone would understand without
00:11:04explanations. Uh, but it turned out not to be that
00:11:08simple. Vabalava certainly does not want to oppose the Südalinna
00:11:11theater. These are two different theaters with different tasks;
00:11:15one cannot replace the other. But that is precisely
00:11:18why the question arises: if Vaba Lava truly leaves Narva,
00:11:22who will fill the resulting void? And is the state
00:11:25prepared to lose a platform that has worked for years where
00:11:29culture, language, and integration are especially
00:11:41for the construction of a new gas station. The city government
00:11:44issued a permit for work on the territory of the Baltic
00:11:47Power Plant. The project, worth about 100 million euros,
00:11:51is planned to be completed in 2028.
00:11:59It is intended primarily for electricity
00:12:01production and maintaining energy system
00:12:04reserves. The generated heat
00:12:07can be directed to the city's district heating system, up to
00:12:1085 MW. However, the new station will not
00:12:14become the main source of heating for Narva. Natural gas
00:12:17or biomethane will be used as fuel. The technology
00:12:21allows for the future addition of hydrogen.
00:12:25We return to the main topic of the program. Not only Narva residents themselves
00:12:29discuss what Narva should be like; there is also plenty of advice
00:12:32from outsiders. But who should be listened to
00:12:36when it comes to the city's image, and how much should
00:12:39outside opinion influence it? We asked
00:12:43active Narva residents about
00:12:44this.
00:12:49I think it's always good when we also hear signals
00:12:52from outside, so that we can...
00:13:25beat this bad with that good and not want to talk about
00:13:28the bad. We must somehow promote, sell that period,
00:13:32which was, among other things, Soviet monuments, non-monuments,
00:13:35we still have cool architecture left from those times, why not
00:13:39implement it and use it, because after all, it exists, it's
00:13:43part of our history. The other question is how we
00:13:46do it. It's one thing when we do it for ourselves, and another thing to flirt with
00:13:49a neighbor who hasn't done much good for us
00:13:53lately, especially. Therefore, here again, we need to maintain
00:13:56a balance and not abandon it, but also develop it in a new way, in a new
00:14:00direction, listening also to the opinion of the state. Narva
00:14:04is a very clean, very beautiful city, we have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of,
00:14:08especially if we are talking about tourists.
00:14:11We also shouldn't be ashamed that we are the autumn capital,
00:14:15it doesn't in any way take away Tallinn's status
00:14:17as capital, although it sounds as if
00:14:21we are claiming something of the sort. In reality,
00:14:24it's a shame for the people, it's a shame
00:14:27for the organizers, because this year, well, probably the most
00:14:30massive autumn capital we had, the widest
00:14:34advertising of these events, well, there were very many events themselves, they
00:14:38literally piled on top of each other, and one must understand that behind all this
00:14:41stands the work of people, the work of our
00:14:45Narva people. Suddenly,
00:14:48the platform they created for celebrating, for
00:14:52rejoicing, for enjoying the autumn – this autumn
00:14:55is very pleasant this year for us, at least for now –
00:14:59this platform was used for
00:15:02some teachings, for
00:15:05some political statements. This, perhaps,
00:15:08one would like, one would like to avoid.
00:15:11I will quote: next time it's better just with flowers,
00:15:14indeed.
00:15:19And we move on to the studio discussion. I will introduce our guests: the director
00:15:23of the Narva Museum. Hello, good evening. And the chairman
00:15:27of the Narva City Council, chairman
00:15:30of the Tourism Commission, member of the Narva Museum Council,
00:15:34one of the authors of the idea, as I understand it,
00:15:44Narva already has a tourist slogan, or
00:15:47the city's slogan: Europe begins
00:15:50here. There were many disputes about the factual accuracy
00:15:53of such a statement. But we want to ask you about something else. If we were
00:15:57choosing such a slogan for Narva now, would
00:16:01you vote for the option "Narva - the most Russian
00:16:05city in Estonia"? Yes or?
00:17:07on the border. Narva is a border town. But this does not negate
00:17:11what is embedded in our slogan, "Europe
00:17:14begins here," a slogan that was, among other things, chosen through a public vote
00:17:17in 2021. Indeed, it is so.
00:17:21Urba, how would you vote?
00:17:24If you changed the words a bit and added
00:17:27additional words, the word "Russian" itself isn't the problem. The problem is how you
00:17:31raised the question. And if you look at it that way, I
00:17:35would say, then how about for...
00:18:08a rather strange concept, in my opinion, at least that's how it seems to me. But
00:18:12the case, or incident, with Riina Solman, who
00:18:15reprimanded us for such an initiative, was that
00:18:19appropriate at all, Maria?
00:18:22Well, listen, Riina Solman is a politician. All politicians tend
00:18:26to make loud statements, often resonant, expecting a specific
00:18:30reaction, primarily from their electorate. I think that
00:18:33this is already a priori inherent in a certain political
00:18:37game, one might say. At the same time, during the
00:18:40ceremony, the official ceremony of opening Narva as the Autumn Capital, nothing similar
00:18:44was said. It was a very beautiful ceremony, with wonderful
00:18:47wishes, with the transfer of symbolic
00:18:50attributes to the interim mayor of the city, Jan Todts. And I
00:18:54think that here one should treat it
00:18:56as such a loud political statement, on
00:19:00which, including the person Riina Solman, but she is first and foremost a politician here,
00:19:04certainly has the right to. Remember that, of course...