Estonian edition:
After the Citizenship Act was enacted in 1992, 90% of ethnic Estonians automatically became citizens, while only 8–10% of non-Estonians were granted citizenship. This is due to a law that granted citizenship to those who lived in Estonia before 1940, the year of Soviet annexation. (3) Due to the law, those who moved or were born in Estonia after 1940, during the Soviet era, had to apply for citizenship. New figures show that “as of April 2012, 93,774 people (6.9% of the population) remained stateless, while around 95,115 (7% of the population) had chosen Russian citizenship as an alternative to statelessness “. (4) Since many Russian speakers were unable to obtain citizenship, these 13.9% of the population do not have the right to participate in Estonian democracy.
Here is More details. I believe that in 1992, when the first elections were held, approximately forty percent of the resident population, depending on age, was not eligible to vote. I’m not sure of the current percentages, but I know the same basic system continues.
No in itself oppose these policies (fear the Russian bear), while noting that I do not have enough information to evaluate all the trade-offs involved. It is nevertheless interesting to note the attention given to Hungarian and Polish democratic “deviations” from this. An EU country that enjoys an excellent reputation around the world, based on its ethnicity, is denying the right to vote to a significant portion of its long-term residents.
Two more points. Firstly, you should be concerned about this issue, as an ethnic Russian, unless your ancestors arrived before 1940. So the concern here is not just about recent arrivals, but it is entirely possible that your grandparents were born in Estonia, maybe even grandparents. Grand parents. Second, ethnic Russians do indeed have a path to normal Estonian citizenship, but it is difficult, especially when it comes to the language requirements, which I am told are very strict.
I heard a lot of Russian while walking the streets of Tallinn, and especially at the ballet. I’ve seen estimates that a quarter of Estonia’s population is of Russian origin, and in the big city it’s surely more than that.
Garrett Jones, Phone!
