ETHNIC RUSSIANS AND MINORITY RIGHTS IN THE BALTIC STATES DURING THEIR EU ACCESSION PROCESS ÖZGE GÜNGÖR NOVEMBER 2007 ETHNIC RUSSIANS AND MINORITY RIGHTS IN THE BALTIC STATES DURING THEIR EU ACCESSION PROCESS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY ÖZGE GÜNGÖR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION NOVEMBER 2007 2 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Sencer Ayata Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. Raşit Kaya Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Assist. Prof. Dr. Oktay F. Tanrısever Supervisor Examining Committee Members Assist. Prof. Dr. Galip Yalman (METU, PSPA) Assist. Prof. Dr. Oktay F. Tanrısever (METU, IR) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı (METU, PSPA) 3 I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Özge Güngör Signature : iii ABSTRACT ETHNIC RUSSIANS AND MINORITY RIGHTS IN THE BALTIC STATES DURING THEIR EU ACCESSION PROCESS Güngör, Özge Master of Science Department of Political Science and Public Administration Supervisor : Assist. Prof. Dr. Oktay F. Tanrısever November 2007, 145 pages This thesis examines the impact of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania’s European accession process on the Russian oriented citizenship policies and laws of these states from a comparative perspective. The thesis also explores the impact of communist heritage and the construction of the post- communist state order within the context of minority rights; in addition to the consistency of the citizenship laws in the Baltic states with the European Union norms, which require the respect for and protection of minorities. The main argument of this thesis is that notwithstanding the fact that the European accession process has promoted minority rights in the three Baltic states significantly, the ethnic Russians in the Baltic states have been partially accommodated during the Baltic states’ accession into the EU. The ethnic Russians have not been entirely accommodated due to Baltic states’ fear from potential influence of the Russian Federation over the ethnic Russians in these Baltic states. Keywords: EU, Minority Rights, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania iv ÖZ AVRUPA ENTEGRASYON SÜRECİNDE BALTIK ÜLKELERİNDE ETNİK RUSLAR VE AZINLIK HAKLARI Güngör, Özge Yüksek Lisans Siyaset Bilimi ve Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Yard. Doç. Dr. Oktay F. Tanrısever Kasım 2007, 145 sayfa Bu tez, Baltık ülkelerinden Estonya, Letonya ve Litvanya’nın Avrupa Birliği’ne (AB) katılım sürecinin söz konusu ülkelerde yaşayan etnik Rus nüfusa dönük vatandaşlık politika ve kanunları üzerindeki etkilerini karşılaştırmalı olarak incelemektedir. Tez, aynı zamanda, vatandaşlık kanunlarının, azınlık hak ve özgürlüklerine saygı, bu hak ve özgürlüklerin korunmasını gerektiren AB normları ile tutarlılığına ek olarak, Komünist mirasın bu ülkeler üzerindeki etkilerini ve bu ülkelerin Komünizm sonrası devlet düzeninin yeniden inşasını azınlık hakları çerçevesinde incelemektedir. Tezin temel argümanı olarak, AB katılım sürecinin Baltık ülkelerindeki azınlık haklarına sağlamış olduğu önemli katkıya rağmen, söz konusu ülkelerin AB katılım süreci boyunca etnik Rusların azınlık hakları konusunda kısmi ilerleme sağlayabildiği öne sürülmektedir. Baltık ülkeleri, Rusya Federasyonu’nun, kendi ülkelerinde yaşayan etnik Ruslar üzerinde yaratabileceği olası etkiden duydukları korku sebebiyle, azınlık hakları konusunda tam olarak ilerleme sağlayamamıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: AB, azınlık hakları, Estonya, Letonya, Litvanya v To My Parents And My Friends vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Assist. Prof. Dr. Oktay F. Tanrısever for his academic guidance, advice, criticism, patience, encouragements and insight throughout the research. I would also like to thank Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pınar Akçalı and Assist. Prof. Dr. Galip Yalman for their suggestions and valuable comments. The technical assistance of Ms. Müge Yazgan, Mr. Ad van Herk and Mr. Fırat Şipal are gratefully acknowledged. Last, but not least, I am heavily indebted to my parents for their faith in me and for their support during the preparation of this thesis. Finally, I would like to thank my dear friends for always being there. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM..............................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT................................................................................................................. iv ÖZ ................................................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS...........................................................................................viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 1 2. HISTORICAL FORMATION OF THE BALTIC STATES ............................ 14 2.1 The Origin of the Baltic Nations and the Baltic States .......................... 14 2.2 Formation of the Baltic States in the Early 20th Century ....................... 20 2.3 The Baltic States under the Soviet Rule................................................. 22 2.4 The Baltic Non-Recognition of the Soviet Annexation ......................... 30 2.5 The Restoration of the Baltic Independence .......................................... 35 2.6 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 44 3. THE ETHNIC RUSSIANS IN THE BALTIC STATES IN THE POST-SOVIET ERA UNTIL THE EUROPEAN UNION NEGOTIATIONS ........................ 47 3.1 Estonia and Its Minorities ...................................................................... 48 3.2 Latvia and Its Minorities ........................................................................ 61 3.3 Lithuania and Its Minorities................................................................... 69 3.5 Conclusion ............................................................................................. 77 viii 4. THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION PROCESS AND ITS EFFECTS ON MINORITY RIGHTS OF THE BALTIC STATES ....................................... 80 4.1 The EU Enlargement and the EU Position on the Ethnic Russians in the Baltics..................................................................................................... 80 4.2 Estonia’s Integration into the EU and the Ethnic Russians ................... 95 4.3 Latvia’s Integration into the EU and the Ethnic Russians ................... 103 4.4 Lithuania’s Integration into the EU and the Ethnic Russians .............. 111 4.5 Conclusion ..........................................................................................113 5. CONCLUSION............................................................................................. 115 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................... 122 ix LIST OF ABBREVATIONS CEEC Central and Eastern European Countries CIS Commonwealth of Independent States CoE Council of Europe EC European Commission ECHR European Convention on Human Rights EEA European Economic Area EEC European Economic Community EU European Union EP European Parliament FCNM Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities HCNM High Commissioner on National Minorities LCP Latvian Communist Party LICD Latvian Immigration and Citizenship Department (Immigration and Citizenship Board) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO Non-governmental Organization NSDAP National Socialist German Workers Party OSCE Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe PACE Parliament Assembly of the Council of Europe UN United Nations UNDP United Nations Development Programme USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics x CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Primary aim of this thesis is to analyze the European Union (EU) accession process and its impact on the citizenship policies and laws of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from a comparative perspective. In this regard, the thesis presents a general framework on the citizenship policies and laws after independence of the three Baltic states in the early 1990s. In addition, the thesis explores the impact of the so-called communist heritage and the construction of the post-communist state order within the context of minority rights and it concerns with the progress of each Baltic state on minority issue during their transition. The thesis, therefore, focuses upon EU accession process of the three Baltic states. In this manner, the aim of the thesis is to make an analysis of the scope of conditionality imposed on the Baltic states by the EU. In the post-communist period, the Baltic states has progressed from communist states into members of the EU. Following their independence,