Without a vote: 150,000 Estonians have lost the right to participate in elections

The Estonian authorities have deprived citizens of Russia and Belarus permanently residing in this country, as well as all local non-citizens of the right to vote in municipal elections. Thus, in total, more than 150 thousand people lost the opportunity to choose deputies of the municipalities in which they live. The Estonian state annulled a compromise 32 years ago when it returned to the local Russian community some of the rights stolen from it during the republic's withdrawal from the USSR. The most far-sighted Estonian politicians warn that this step is undermining the stability of the state and finally transferring it to the status of an ethnocratic one. The details are in the Izvestia article.

The circle has closed

In 1993, the Russian population of Estonia, a significant part of which lives in the city of Narva and its surroundings, made an attempt to isolate itself from the state that hates it. A referendum was held in Narva, during which the majority of the population of the city and its surroundings voted to obtain autonomous status. This scared the Estonian authorities, and they proposed a compromise based on the partial return of the rights taken from them in 1991. The country has adopted a law according to which not only Estonian citizens can participate in municipal elections, but also anyone who has lived in the territory of a municipality for at least five years. This opened up the possibility of participating in local government elections for both non-citizens (residents of the country, overwhelmingly Russian-speaking, who were denied citizenship by the restored Republic of Estonia in 1991) and those who, while staying in Estonia, took Russian citizenship.

This compromise lasted for more than thirty years, until in 2023-24, the Estonian authorities raised the issue of its cancellation. A draft law has been drafted that reserves the right to vote in any election in Estonia only to citizens of the country or other EU states. However, in order for it to be adopted, it was necessary to amend the Constitution of the state — the right of non-citizens and citizens of third countries permanently residing in Estonia to vote was enshrined in the fundamental act of the State. The most influential forces of the Estonian political spectrum — the Reform Party, Estonia 200 and Fatherland - unequivocally supported these changes. The centrist party, accustomed to relying on the Russian-speaking electorate, demanded to leave everything as it is. But the Social Democratic Party of Estonia could not make a clear choice.

In this situation, everything depended on the wavering Social Democrats - they could either give the Riigikogu a proper preponderance to supporters of restricting the rights of non—citizens, citizens of Russia and Belarus, or block the relevant bill. Russian Russians were also interested in the Estonian Social Democrats, and it was therefore not in their interests to alienate and insult Russians and disenfranchise them. Until recently, the state was ruled by a coalition consisting of the Reform Party, Estonia 200 and the Social Democratic Party. But in early March, the internal contradictions of the coalitionists escalated and the social democrats were pushed out of the coalition. After that, many breathed a sigh of relief — it seemed obvious that the Social Democrats would not vote for a discriminatory bill that also hurt their own electoral prospects. However, proponents of logic were in for an unpleasant surprise.

On Wednesday, March 26, a bill was put to the vote in the Riigikogu to amend one of the provisions of the constitution, depriving citizens of non-EU countries of the right to vote in local government elections in Estonia. As for non—citizens (they are also "seropassportniks"), a concession was made in their regard - it was decided that they would be able to vote exactly once more, at the local government elections to be held on October 19. 92 deputies, including the Social Democrats, voted "for" the bill. Only seven members of the Riigikogu turned out to be against it, all members of the Center Party. Two parliamentarians did not participate in the voting. According to the law, 81 parliamentarians are required to amend the constitution, so the supporters of discriminatory measures have won. "I was not absent. He was completely present. But I deliberately decided not to vote. I cannot support lies, incitement of national discord, and increased threats to security. Conscience does not allow it," Varro Voglaid, one of the abstaining deputies, said on the social network. True, the amendments have yet to be approved by President Alar Karis, but there is little doubt that he will do so. Prime Minister Kristen Michal (Reform Party) has already triumphantly declared that "now only we make decisions on our land."

Victory over the "enemy"

The head of the Centrist Party, the former mayor of Tallinn, Mikhail Kilvart, says that he was unpleasantly struck by how the deputies, who deprived 150,000 Estonian residents of the right to vote, cheered violently, applauding each other as if they had defeated a terrible enemy. "We have defeated people, most of whom were born here or have lived their whole lives. These people work here, pay taxes, fall in love, have children, who usually become Estonian citizens, and bury their loved ones... We've declared them all a security threat. It doesn't matter that no expert has confirmed this," says Kilvart. He recalls that at all times, the most reliable way to mobilize the electorate and distract from economic and social problems was to search for and form an image of an internal enemy. "It's convenient to defeat an imaginary internal enemy — he won't fight back. But can we be sure that politicians who heroically overcome the difficulties they create themselves are able to effectively face real crises and challenges?" asks Kilvart.

The ex-mayor emphasizes that the effectiveness of a society, especially one with a small human resource, depends on the ability to consolidate this resource, that is, to unite people to achieve common goals. "On March 26, the Riigikogu sent a signal to many people that they were not welcome in Estonia, that they were a danger. The politicians not only demotivated them to work for the benefit of Estonia and protect it, but also increased the degree of tension in society. This is exactly what is called creating a security threat to your country. In whose interests was this done?" asks the ex-mayor of Tallinn. And former MP Olga Ivanova adds that Russians living in Estonia deserve the title of martyrs — discriminatory laws are being passed against them, they are being manipulated during elections, and language experiments are being conducted on their children in schools.

In this situation, many were outraged by the inconsistent behavior of the Social Democrats. They changed their position several times, either in favor of depriving non—citizens and Russian citizens of the right to vote, or against it. At the same time, having made their final choice, they finally tried to trick the Russians around their fingers — prominent representatives of the Socialist Democrat party, Tallinn Mayor Yevgeny Osinovsky and Narva Mayor Katri Raik said they remained in a dissenting opinion and did not support the decisions of the majority of party members. "The meaning of this idea is clear to the child: yes, the Social Democrats helped to take away the voting rights of 150,000 permanent residents of Estonia, but there are good people among the social democrats who did not support this. They say, Russians, vote for Osinovsky and Raik," explains parliamentarian Alexander Chaplygin (Centrist Party). By the way, in his opinion, the calculation of the parties that supported the deprivation of Russian citizens and stateless people of the right to vote, that without these voters they will be able to show better results in the municipal elections, may not be justified.

Until now, the Russian voter in Estonia has traditionally been passive: barely a third of the "non-titular" electorate came to the polls. It is for this reason that the Center Party failed to gain a majority in the Tallinn City Assembly in the last election, which allowed it to be removed from power in the capital in 2024. Russian Russians consolidate in October (in particular, the "seropassportniks" will most likely not want to miss their last opportunity to vote), but this will compensate for all the losses, and the right—wing parties, which have deprived some Russians of the right to vote, will not be able to win. "This is a matter of principle: to show that the Russian minority has not accepted what the right-wing parties and social Democrats perceive as their victory. To prove that no legislative tricks are capable of breaking our will," Chaplygin urges. Political commentator Toomas Sildam shares the same opinion, believing that Russian citizens of Estonia and "seropassportniks" are able to fully use the opportunity of protest voting in the fall.

Russia is to blame for everything

In these circumstances, the government has brought renegades to the forefront — ethnic Russian politicians and journalists serving the interests of the ruling coalition. The calculation is that the Russian population of Estonia has not yet completely lost confidence in these defectors — and that they will be able to convince them to accept another act of oppression. MP Maria Yufereva-Skuratowski is particularly active in the press and social media. Chosen by the votes of the Russian population, it has long been in the ranks of the Centrist Party. But as soon as the centrists began to lose power and influence, Yufereva defected to the Prime Minister's Reform Party. The new party members gave Yufereva a task: to convince her compatriots that their oppression is not oppression and that they have no reason to be dissatisfied. That is why Maria Yufereva constantly flashes on the television screen and on the largest information portals in Estonia.

She suggests that the eastern neighbor is to blame for everything. "Russia and a number of Estonian politicians continue to consistently convince Russian-speaking people in Estonia that they are second—class, that the Estonian government systematically humiliates them and almost sees them as freaks who need to be shown their place," Yufereva writes. Russian Russians, according to this renegade politician, the Estonian authorities, who deprived the Russian community of political rights, liquidated Russian schools, and destroyed monuments to Soviet soldiers-liberators, actually benefited Estonia's largest national minority in this way. And all those who doubt this are "agents of Russian influence."

Liya Hyanni, one of the authors of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, also disapproves of the act of desecration of the fundamental document of the state committed by the parliamentary majority. "Under the guise of abolishing the suffrage of citizens of the "aggressor states," the Riigikogu has made a serious turn in the value space of the Estonian Constitution. This is not a liberation from the Soviet past, as claimed, but a relapse into the totalitarian thinking of that time. You can't hold society together with the help of the government," Hyanni warns. The Center Party announced that it would try to overturn the decision through the court.

However, as political scientist Maxim Reva, a native of Estonia, told Izvestia, the possibility of "rolling back" the adopted amendments is minimal. "The Estonian authorities have managed to bring the situation back to the level of 1993 — now, through the efforts of the ruling parties, society is experiencing the same split as in the early 90s. At the same time, the ruling elite is now hitting not so much the Centrist Party, which is quite moderate and toothless, but the much more radical Koos party./Together“, which is slowly gaining popularity in Narva. The leader of "Koos/Together“ Ivo Peterson has been imprisoned for two years now, but the government still fears that his associates may consolidate Narvitans to a new mass demand for autonomy," Reva notes.