Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg Wolfgang Zellner/Randolf Oberschmidt/Claus Neukirch (Eds.) Comparative Case Studies on the Effectiveness of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Margit Sarv Integration by Reframing Legislation: Implementation of the Recommendations of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to Estonia, 1993-2001 Working Paper 7 Wolfgang Zellner/Randolf Oberschmidt/Claus Neukirch (Eds.) Comparative Case Studies on the Effectiveness of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Margit Sarv∗ Integration by Reframing Legislation: Implementation of the Recommendations of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities to Estonia, 1993-2001 CORE Working Paper 7 Hamburg 2002 ∗ Margit Sarv, M.Phil., studied Political Science at the Central European University in Budapest. Currently Ms. Sarv works as a researcher at the Institute of International and Social Studies in Tallinn. 2 Contents Editors' Preface 5 List of Abbreviations 6 Chapter 1. Introduction 8 Chapter 2. The Legacies of Soviet Rule: A Brief History of Estonian-Russian Relations up to 1991 11 Chapter 3. Estonia after Independence: The Radicalized Period from 1991 to 1994 19 3.1 From Privileges to Statelessness: The Citizenship Issue in Estonia in 1992 19 3.2 Estonia's Law on Citizenship and International Reactions 27 3.3 HCNM Recommendations on the Law on Citizenship of 1992 29 3.4 Language Training - the Double Responsibility Towards Naturalization and Integration 35 3.5 New Restrictions, Higher Tensions: The 1993 Law on Aliens 37 3.6 HCNM Recommendations on the Draft Law 41 3.7 HCNM Mediation in the Crisis of Summer 1993: Referenda for Autonomy in Narva and Sillamäe 44 3.8 HCNM Recommendations on the Implementation of the Law on Aliens: Application Procedures 47 3.8.1 Temporary or Permanent Residence Permits? 47 3.8.2 Application Procedures 49 3.8.3 Postponement of Application Deadlines 50 3.8.4 Russian Army Pensioners and their Families 50 3.9 July Agreements and Russian Troop Withdrawal from Estonia 53 3.10 Summary 57 Chapter 4. The Stabilization Period from 1995 to 1997 59 4.1 Internal Developments from 1995 to 1997 59 4.2 The New Law on Citizenship of 1995 60 4.3 The HCNM's Concern about Statelessness: Promotion of Naturalization and Reduction in the Number of Stateless People 65 4.4 Aliens' Passports 68 4.5 The Amended Law on Aliens and the Question of Residence Permits 71 3 4.6 The Ratification of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities 74 4.7 Estonia and the Outside World: Relations to International Organizations and to Russia from 1995 to 1997 77 4.8 Conclusions Drawn by the Estonian Foreign Ministry and the HCNM 80 Chapter 5. The Liberalization Period since 1998 85 5. 1 Integration Programme 85 5.2 Granting Citizenship to Stateless Children 87 5.3 Language Questions Back on the Agenda 90 5.4 Creation of the Ombudsman Office 96 5.5 Summary 100 Chapter 6. Conclusion: The Effectiveness of the High Commissioner's Involvement in Estonia and Its Conditions 101 List of References 115 4 Editors' Preface With the present series "Comparative Case Studies on the Effectiveness of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities," we are publishing the results of the five country studies on Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Macedonia and Romania of the project "On the Effectiveness of the OSCE Minority Regime. Comparative Case Studies on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) of the OSCE". A comparative analysis on the differing success rates and conditions of the High Commissioner's facilitation and mediation efforts in these countries will follow. The High Commissioner project was a challenging and fascinating task for several reasons. First, we had to deal with a new instrument of crisis prevention, one of the most innovative developments resulting from the international community's reaction to the shocking and for most of us surprising new reality of inter- ethnic conflict and war after the end of the East-West confrontation. When the High Commissioner's mandate was adopted, there was little experience with how to deal with this kind of conflict. And when we started the project in 1999, there was no empirical in-depth analysis on the High Commissioner's work. Thus, we found a rather empty field and had to start from the scratch. Second, we had the privilege to deal with Max van der Stoel, the first incumbent of this new institution. When he took office, nearly everything that today goes to make the High Commissioner - sufficient funds, advisers, working instruments, contacts, experience - was not yet in place. It was fascinating to follow the straight-forward way this great European statesman used the raw material of the mandate and his own experience of a whole life devoted to peace and human rights to frame the institution of the High Commissioner to what it is today: an established and overall respected institution of European crisis prevention. Max van der Stoel and his advisers in The Hague have shown vivid interest in our project; they have encouraged us and have always been ready to answer our questions. We are very grateful for all their help. Third, it was a great pleasure for us to work with a team of young, motivated and talented academics in the countries analysed: with Dr. Teuta Arifi in Macedonia, Jekaterina Dorodnova in Latvia, István Horváth in Romania, Dr. Volodymyr Kulyk in Ukraine, and Margit Sarv in Estonia. They not only collected and analysed piles of materials in eight languages to draft reports into a ninth one, but more importantly, they enriched the project with their specific experiences, avenues of access and points of view to an extent which would have never been achievable without them. We want to thank all of them for years of work and devotion. We are also very grateful to Klemens Büscher, who worked with the project's Hamburg staff from the beginning of 1999 to mid-2000. The project owes very much to his superb expertise and analytical skills. And we want to warmly thank Kim Bennett, Jeffrey Hathaway, Katri Kemppainen and Veronica Trespalacios who have polished about 700 pages of English-language text written by non-native speakers. Last, but by no means least, we are especially grateful to the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, whose generous grant first of all enabled us to carry out this demanding and rewarding research. Hamburg, May 2002 The editors 5 List of Abbreviations International Institutions CBSS Council of Baltic Sea States CiO Chairman in Office (OSCE) CoE Council of Europe CoE/PA Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly COPRI Copenhagen Peace Research Institute CSCE Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) CSO Committee of Senior Officials (OSCE) EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction EC European Community ECHR European Court of Human Rights ECMI European Centre for Minority Issues EU European Union FIER Foundation on Inter-Ethnic Relations HCNM High Commissioner on National Minorities (OSCE) IFSH Institut für Friedensforschung und Sicherheitspolitik Hamburg IOM International Organization for Migration NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO Nongovernmental Organization ODIHR Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE) OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe PC Permanent Council (OSCE) PHARE Poland and Hungary Action for the Reconstruction of the Economy (EU) RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme Other Countries KGB Komitet gosudarsvennoj bezopasnosti [Committee of State Security, USSR/RSFSR] RSFSR Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic US United States USA United States of America USD United States Dollar USSR Union of Socialist Soviet Republics Republic of Estonia EEK Eesti kroonides [Estonian Crowns] ESA Eesti Statistikaamet [Estonian Statistical Office] ESSR Estonian Socialist Soviet Republic 6 FM Foreign Minister ID Identification Document LICHR Legal Information Centre for Human Rights MP Member of Parliament OSTK Ob’edinennyi sovet trudovykh kollektivov [Union of Councils of Worker Collectives] PM Prime Minister RT Riigi Teataja 7 Chapter 1. Introduction This study on the recommendations of the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) to Estonia was prepared in the framework of the larger project "On the Effectiveness of the OSCE Minority Regime. Comparative Case Studies on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the High Commissioner on National Minorities of the OSCE", comprising five country studies and a comparative analysis. The research was sponsored by the German Research Association (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and was carried out from 1999 to 2002 by an international team of five researchers in the countries analysed, as well as by two researchers working at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg. The objective of this study, as well as the one of the whole project, "lies […] in the investigation of the effectiveness of the OSCE minority regime in light of the implementation of the HCNM's recommendations."1 Alongside the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE field missions, the High Commissioner on National Minorities is one of the main instruments for early warning and conflict prevention of the new CSCE/OSCE,2 as it developed after the 1990 Paris Summit. Because of its flexible mandate and