Ethnic non-Estonians
constitute 35% (around half a million people) of Estonia's total
population (1,450,000). Twenty-eight percent of the total population (400,000)
is of Russian origin.
The naturalisation procedure
As recommended by the Commission's
1998 Regular Report, the Estonian parliament adopted amendments to the
Citizenship Law on stateless children on 8 December 1998. These amendments
will grant Estonian citizenship to children of non-citizens, born in Estonia
after the 26 February 1992, upon their parents' request. This measure entered
into force on 12 July and could immediately affect around 6,000 children
as well as an estimated 1,500 per year in the future. However, so far applications
for only 34 children have been submitted. No decisions have yet been taken.
108,000 non-Estonians have
been granted Estonian citizenship since the Citizenship Law entered into
force in 1992. Since the 1 August 1998, 7,946 persons have received citizenship
as compared to 9,762 between June 1997 and October 1998. Bureaucratic delays
and the Estonian language requirement continue to be cited as the main
disincentives for securing citizenship.
Residence permits and special
passports for non-citizens
Around 34,000 non-citizens
have been granted permanent residence permits, out of the nearly 130,000
that have requested them. This represents 27% of all applications. Around
30,000 non-citizens are estimated to be illegal. In August 1999,
4,754 illegal residents had actually filed applications for residence since
the government's registration campaign started in July 1997. This compared
with 3,784 in August 1998. The largest number of illegal residents have
been registered in the Tallinn region and in the north-east of Estonia.
In August 1999, The government
adopted a decree introducing minimum income requirements for persons applying
for Estonia residence permits. Henceforth, foreign subjects applying for
a residence permit can only obtain one if their total income over the previous
six months equals three times the average half yearly Estonian wage (€4,850).
A minimum income level was also introduced for persons who wish to exchange
a temporary residence permit for a permanent residence permit and for family
reunification (children, parents and spouses of people legally residing
in Estonia). The decree introduces an important obstacle for illegal residents
to regularise their situation.
Following an amendment in
the Alien's Law that will enter into force on 1 October, the immigration
quota will not be applied for those stateless persons who settled in Estonia
prior to 1 July 1990 and have not since left the country.
Integration of minorities
The rights of the Russian-speaking
minority (with or without Estonian nationality) continue to be largely
observed and safeguarded. Russian continues to be widely used in the courts
and in the administration in those areas where Russian speakers represent
a majority of the local population. However, non-citizens are still subject
to some restrictions such as the right to sit on the boards of state-owned
companies, to belong to a political party and to be employed in certain
areas of the public administration.
On 2 March 1999, the Government
adopted a document “Integration of non-Estonians into Estonian Society:
Government Action Plan”, which builds on the integration strategy adopted
in 1998 and mandates the Integration Foundation with the task of elaborating
a state integration programme for the period 2000-2007. In 1999, the state
budget allocated €370,000 to activities connected with integration
and language training. Furthermore, in September 1999, the government decided
to open a representation of the Ministry of Ethnic Affairs in the north-east
of Estonia.
In June 1999 the Law on
Local Council Elections was amended in order to allow for non-citizens
legally resident in Estonia to vote in the local elections. For the local
elections on 17 October 1999, this amendment will affect 220,000 people.
Language Legislation
Language training is one
of the main instruments for the integration of ethnic minorities into Estonian
society. Currently, 36% of the population has a first language other than
Estonian. The Phare programme continues to provide important support in
this area.
In February 1999 an agreement
was signed between the Ministry of Education and the Integration Foundation
for the implementation of national integration policies. The Ministry's
role covers: the development of a methodology for teaching Estonian as
a second language, further training for teachers, intensive Estonian language
training in vocational and higher education institutions, teaching materials,
language training camps and youth work. Furthermore, 17 new official language
teachers (18 in 1998) out of a total of 50 were appointed. Progress in
this area is handicapped by lack of financial resources.
In December 1998, the Riigikogu
adopted amendments to the Parliamentary and Local Elections Law. These
amendments require candidates for parliamentary and local elections to
have a sufficient level of Estonian. Estonian authorities claim that these
amendments do not change the "status quo" and do not imply the introduction
of discriminatory restrictions for non-Estonian speakers. The amendments
entered into force on 1 May 1999.
The Riigikogu also adopted
a set of amendments to the 1995 Language Law, which entered into force
in July 1999. An attempt to amend this law in 1997 was declared unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court due to the high degree of discretion the proposed
amendments would give to the government. The amendments distinguish and
regulate the use of Estonian in the private and public sectors.
The concerns raised by the
adoption of this law go beyond the non-compliance by Estonia of the political
criteria for membership on minorities issues and could conflict between
the law and the obligations of Estonia under the Europe Agreement, in particular
in the fields of free movement of persons, right of establishment, supply
of services, capital movements and award of public contracts (Title IV
and V of the EA). In this context, the provisions added to the 1995 Language
Law are likely to have a negative impact on the establishment and operation
of Community companies and of self-employed Community nationals in the
territory of Estonia. In addition, it may also constitute a restriction
to entry into and temporary presence in the territory of Estonia of Community
nationals. The imposition of linguistic knowledge requirements may not
only deter Community companies from exercising their right of establishment
in Estonia but also force them to reduce the scale of business operations
in the country.
The most controversial provision
of the amendments to the law is that the employees of business associations,
NGOs and foundations and physical persons as entrepreneurs (self-employed)
must use the Estonian language for offering goods and services while performing
their work. The Estonian language requirements will not be applied to those
foreign experts who have arrived in Estonia on the basis of a work permit
for a period of up to a year.
Much of the impact of the
law will depend on how it is implemented and the capacity of the Estonian
authorities to enforce it. The Estonian government has adopted a decree
implementing the law in the public sector (which also regulates the use
of Estonian for medical personnel, psychologists and pharmacists) and is
preparing another decree applicable to the private sector. An examination
of the draft decree by the Commission indicates that the draft texts envisaged
so far, suffer from a lack of precision in the definition of professions
and that the language requirements are unjustified in relation to the stated
objectives, thus constituting a possible restriction in the application
of the Europe Agreement. The application of the law in the public sector
could have considerable impact in some groups of public workers such as
prison officials, of which around 40% are non-Estonian citizens and have
a relatively low command of the Estonian language. Another example of the
difficulties that can arise in the application and interpretation of requirements
by the law is the ban, by the National Language Board, of electoral posters
and signs not exclusively in Estonian. This issue is currently being dealt
with by the Estonian Courts.
The OSCE High Commissioner
for Minorities has also pointed out that the current text contradicts a
number of international standards as regards freedom of expression, in
particular those introduced by the European Convention on Human Rights,
of which . Estonia is a contracting party.
Ombudsman
On 26 February 1999, the
Estonian Parliament adopted amendments to the Legal Chancellor Law in order
to extend the functions of the latter to those of an ombudsman. The new
law entered into force on 1 June 1999 and its functioning will be reviewed.