Estonians, Russians and Estonian citizenship 1992-2012. The only gradual decline of statelessness in Estonia

This paper discusses the phenomenon of statelessness in Estonia, which has to date not been resolved, despite various initiatives both on European and on national levels, in Russia and Estonia. The proportion of stateless persons living in Estonia has dropped form 32 percent in 1992 to about seven percent of the total population as of April 2012, but 20 years after the independence of this small Baltic EU state nearly 94 000 residents remain officially stateless. The paper focuses on the question of what the causes are behind this very gradual decline of statelessness in Estonia. To do so, it is necessary, both to examine the causes of the emergence of statelessness in Estonia and the developments in the field of citizenship policy in the Baltic states in the last two decades. Reasons are identified, why ethnic Russians living in Estonia either chose to accept Estonian or, alternatively, Russian citizenship, or to remain in a state of statelessness, which has both positive and negative implications. The main reasons that affect a decision for an Estonian or Russian citizenship, are both the feeling to be a full member of a society and to enjoy full political rights, as well as better opportunities in the respective labour market (in the case of Estonia citizenship in the EU-labour market as well). The main reasons for not applying for Estonian citizenship include the high language skill requirements as identified in language tests that need to be passed before applying for Estonian citizenship, the limits to mobility in the Commonwealth of Independent States States due to visa requirements, a lack of identification with the Estonian state, the avoidance of military service, the benefits of a relatively high social security standard in Estonia that stateless individuals can benefit from and a full visa waiver from the Portuguese Atlantic coast to Vladivostok.