I happened to be downtown the other day and dropped by the Estonian Embassy here in Ottawa. While there I picked up some interesting reading material about what is happening in Estonia today in regard to citizenship and integration of minority groups.
Some English language readers may not be aware there are currently at least 140 nationalities and ethnic groups, other than natives, residing in a small country containing about 1.4 million inhabitants. However, these “others” represent about a third of the population. As well, only two thirds of the population can, or want to speak Estonian. The bulk of the “others” are Slavic speakers, mainly Russians. Another problem has been that fully a fifth of the population even now does not hold Estonian citizenship. The majority of these people in fact hold “undetermined” citizenship or, more bluntly, are stateless individuals.
This situation presented a serious problem to the post-Soviet current Estonian government which reacted in May 1997, by creating a portfolio for a minister whose responsibilities include population and integration issues. In the present government that minister is Paul-Eerik Rummo. The minister headed up a committee made up of experts that prepared a state integration program. The goal is to create an Estonian model of multi-cultural society. The government feels that to date, it has achieved good results at ensuring full participation of all groups in Estonian social life. Moscow of course disputes this, but their allegations, as usual, reek of crude propaganda and for the most part simply will not stand up to close scrutiny.
Good progress seems to have been made in matters related to citizenship. The percentage of people holding “undetermined” citizenship in 1992 was fully a third of the population. In 2004 that figure had come down to 12%, a very significant improvement. What is noteworthy is that most of these people had been forced on Estonia by the Soviets as part of a cynical policy that can only be characterized as deliberate cultural and linguistic genocide. As well, Estonia, notwithstanding its forcible incorporation into the former Soviet Union was and throughout the half century of military occupation, essentially remained a European country with social values and customs vastly different from those of the relatively backward Slavs and Asiatics. The Russians occupied most of Eastern Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War for a long time, but unlike most conquering imperial powers, their culture was generally looked down upon and never widely adopted.
To my mind anyway, the Estonian model seems to have been effective and based on fairness and common sense. For comparison, one need only to look at what happened to various minority groups in the former Yugoslavia and how the Russians have treated their own visible minorities, especially in larger cities such as Moscow where merely being dark skinned reportedly almost invariably invites police attention. As well, Estonian-Russians in general seem to be in no hurry to decamp to the great “Rodina”, so things can’t be that bad for them, and it is probable that many have chosen to be assimilated into the new Estonian cultural fabric of their own free will.
For those of you who may be visiting Ottawa sometime, the Estonian Embassy is located in a modest office building just on the edge of the historic downtown area known as the “Market”. It is a great place for shopping, restaurants and pubs.
The embassy is headed up by Charge d’affaires Argo Küünemäe, who is assisted by his secretary Kerli Raja. Argo Küünemäe indicated that anyone who happens to be in the area is welcome to drop in for a visit. However, since there are only two people in the embassy and the workload is quite heavy, I suggest that they would appreciate a phone call in advance. Those of you with rusty Estonian language skills such as me need not feel embarrassed. The staff is friendly, and if required they speak English very well.
The embassy is located at 260 Dalhousie St., Suite 210, Ottawa, Ont. K1N 7E4.
The telephone number is (613) 789-4222, FAX (613) 789-9555.
E-mail:
Website:
www.estemb.ca