Language Research

The real breaking down of barriers and development of tolerance in society can take place only in a situation in which all parties feel confident and safe. For Estonians this means guarantees of the preservation and development of "Estonianness". For non-Estonians this means the certainty that the Estonian State's policy is not oriented towards their expulsion or assimilation, also permitting linguistic and cultural diversity alongside the Estonian-language public sphere. Since the model of two separate societies objectively increases both sides' uncertainty, there is no alternative to integration.

Updated (February 2007)

Different foreign rulers have controlled Estonia for about 700 years. In 1918, the country gained independence from the Russian Empire. However, the period of the country's first independence was short: Estonia was incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1940; this situation continued until the restoration of Estonian sovereignty in 1991. (See: Language Research topic (LR)/ Background notes: "Historical Background", November 2004)

Over the years of political movements in the country, the status of Estonian as an official language of the state has changed several times. Its official status was recognized in the 1920 Constitution for the first time. Up to then, German had been the dominant language of the official domain and in the educational system. Later this role was ascribed to Russian.

Estonia, a country that today has a population of some 1.3 million, was under the control of the USSR in 1940-41 and in 1944-1991. During the Soviet period, there were large migration flows primarily from other parts of the USSR. To make conditions more acceptable for the non-Estonian newcomers, several functional areas were russified. Russian was made the second language in education (not a foreign language) and, in some public domains, the first. Moreover, knowledge of the local language in occupied Estonia was not found to be necessary (See: LR/ Background notes: "Estonia - a Part of the Soviet Union", November 2004). Furthermore, in order to consolidate immigrants on the basis of the Russian language, three steps were implemented:

1. The creation of a parallel Russian-medium environment, with no need to switch to Estonian;

2. The continuous transfer of territorial and functional domains from Estonian to Russian;

3. Ideological incentives to favor Russian over Estonian.

Conflicts over language use became more frequent in Estonia in the 1980's with a new "russification" period - at this time, one of the key elements in creating this Russian language environment in Estonia was the assimilation of third-party nationalities (ethnic non-Estonians and non-Russians, such as Ukrainians, Belarussians, Jews, Germans and Poles, were assimilated to the Russian language). According to the 1989 census only 40 percent of them used their native languages as their first language, 52 percent were russified, and approximately 8 percent had switched to Estonian.

Almost 40 percent of population was not ethnically Estonian when, in 1991, after the restoration of independence, the reconstruction of the Estonian state began. Whilst the changes in some spheres of activity were easily accepted, there were difficulties with the citizenship law and the language law, both closely associated with human rights and both being much harder to regulate through legislation.

Following its independence from the USSR, Estonia decided that only those who were citizens of Estonia prior to 1940, with their descendants, would automatically be recognized as Estonian citizens. This meant that a large number of Russian-speakers living in Estonia in 1991 did not automatically qualify for citizenship, as they or their families could not claim to have been citizens before 1940. By 1992, more than 30 percent of Estonian residents were considered to have 'undetermined' citizenship status (meaning that they were not citizens of Estonia or of any other state). In effect, this meant that they were stateless.

The requirements to become a citizen are outlined in the 1995 Law on Citizenship which, among other measures, states that a candidate must pass two exams to become a citizen: an Estonian language exam (written and oral) and an exam on knowledge of the Estonian Constitution and the Law on Citizenship. However, the language examination, which anyone wishing to acquire Estonian citizenship is required to pass, remains the biggest obstacle that stateless people face to their naturalization.

The Law on Citizenship was amended in 2004 (see Legislation topic: The Law on Citizenship) in order to ease the requirements for obtaining citizenship for certain categories of stateless people. As a result, the waiting period for naturalization has been cut to 6 months and a simplified naturalization procedure has been established for people with disabilities. Moreover, children under 15 may obtain citizenship without having to pass a citizenship exam, if their parents request it. Furthermore, stateless children who were born after 1992 may also obtain citizenship with a simplified procedure, but only if both parents are stateless. On the other hand, there are no specific provisions in this law regarding the elderly, who face considerably more difficulties in learning Estonian (see LR/Legislation: "Old People Will Also Have to Pass a Language Exam to Gain Citizenship", February 2004).

In the early 1990's, Estonia claimed that it was necessary to protect the Estonian language. Therefore, based on Article 6 of the Constitution ("The official language of Estonia shall be Estonian"), other special language laws were adopted to ensure its status as state/national language. The laws, especially the 1995 Law on Language, included, among others, the requirement that all work in state entities, organizations and enterprises be conducted only in Estonian: this was the first introduction of a professional linguistic requirement in the country. (For further information, see LR/ Legislation: "Levels of Language Proficiency", May 2002 and Legislation topic: The Law on Language).

Given the high number of Russian-speakers among the population, some provisions to guarantee the use of Russian for official purposes were kept (see LR/Legislation: "The Law on Language"- July 2002 update).

In order to protect linguistic and ethnic minorities in Estonia, the Law on Cultural Autonomy for National Minorities was adopted. The Law considers as national minorities only those citizens of Estonia, who:

• Reside in the territory of Estonia;

• Maintain longstanding, firm and lasting ties with Estonia;

• Are distinct from Estonians on the basis of their ethnic, cultural, religious, or linguistic characteristics; and

• Are motivated by a concern to preserve their cultural traditions, their religion or their language, which together constitute the basis of their common identity.

The Law grants those citizens of Estonia belonging to a national minority the right, in particular, to set up their own cultural and educational institutions and religious congregations and use their own language in both private and official communication in accordance with the Language Law. Moreover, it provides for the establishment of cultural councils by the national minorities entrusted with the organization and co-ordination of the activities of cultural autonomy institutions. The law also guarantees, to non-citizens who reside in Estonia and belong to a national minority, the right to participate in the activities of the national minority's cultural and educational institutions, thereby reducing, in practice, the difference between citizens and non-citizens. Nevertheless, the current definition under Estonian law of what constitutes a minority excludes a large number of Russian-speakers. As most people belonging to the Russian-speaking linguistic minority do not have long-standing links with Estonia (most arrived in Estonia after 1940) and many are not citizens, they do not fall within the definition of what constitutes a minority resident.

Estonia's position on the definition of a minority was confirmed at the ratification of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on 21 November 1996 by the Riigikogu, the Estonian Parliament, who declared that the Republic of Estonia understood the term "national minority", which is not defined in the Convention (see the text of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities at http://www.ciemen.org/mercator/index-gb.htm), only in terms of the four parameters given above.

Since the restoration of independence, the Estonian state has declared the preservation of the Estonian language and the development of Estonian national culture to be its primary goal. Much has been said about integrating minority groups into society and the need to remove the barriers between the two communities. Active steps to protect the status and development of the Estonian language are integral to the government's "Integration of Estonian Society 2000-2007" programme, and even more so in the "Development Strategy of the Estonian Language 2004-2010". Both documents highlight the importance of the "survival" of the Estonian nation, culture and language but the integration programme also expressly states the role of education in this process to be, "the development of the young generation of non-Estonians into one actively speaking Estonian and loyal to Estonia yet as a part of society preserving its national culture".

Developing proficiency in the Estonian language is an important component of integrating the mainly Russian-speaking minority population. Publicly funded education in the Russian language is currently available from kindergarten through secondary school, as well as in vocational schools. However, the liberal access to minority education enjoyed by Russian-speakers heretofore is set to diminish. From 2007, the majority of subjects in all secondary schools will have to be studied in Estonian as a first step towards a transition to 100 percent teaching in the Estonian language in schools, which previously used Russian as the language of instruction. It is said that it will initially be primarily non-academic subjects such as physical education and arts, which will be taught in Estonian, and the transition from Russian to Estonian will be gradual. Furthermore, there will be special courses for teachers to support them in teaching in Estonian to non-Estonians. Subsequently, a few concerns regarding the potential adverse effects of the upcoming reform have been raised (see LR/The use of language in everyday life: "The Minister of Culture raises doubts about the planned switch to Estonian of Russian-medium schools", January 2004).

Concerning education, another initiative to improve the level of Estonian proficiency among the linguistic minority is the so-called "Language Immersion Programme" organized by the publicly-run Non-Estonian Integration Foundation. The Language Immersion Programme targets school children and has two different levels. The first level, referred to as "early immersion" means that the Estonian language is studied as a subject by children in Russian-speaking kindergarten or during the first years in Russian-speaking primary schools. Several subjects are also studied in Estonian. The second level, referred to as "late immersion" sees students gradually switch to Estonian as the language of instruction. In grades seven and eight, the proportion of classes taught in the Estonian language increases to 76 percent of the curriculum. The remaining 24 percent includes Russian as the first language and a third language such as English.

The primary aim of the gradual introduction of bilingualism at schools as well as of other integration programs supported by the Estonian state is stated to be to help the Russian-speaking linguistic minority to master the Estonian language in order to improve their chances to become an integral part of the Estonian society.

However, persons belonging to this minority enjoy limited linguistic and minority rights, and often find themselves de facto excluded from the labor market and educational system through a system of rigorous language and citizenship requirements for employment and limited opportunities to study in minority languages in higher education (see: LR/Language Issues: "Russian University Education under Attack in Estonia", February 2003).

The ethnic policies in Estonia, including aspects of the language laws, appear intended to promote the "voluntary" repatriation of minorities. At the same time, language is generally regarded as an essential element of national identity. In spite of all tensions, one may witness a gradual linguistic normalization with Estonian as the national language known by the vast majority, while minority languages are still accommodating themselves to the new conditions.

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