Citizenship, Statelessness and Belonging in Estonia

After regaining independence in August 1991 and reintroducing the Estonian Citizenship Act of 1938 in February 1992, about one third of the population of Estonia (mostly Russian-speakers) became stateless. This paper examines first, the reasons why massive statelessness (still about 100000 persons) has persisted nearly 20 years, and second, relationship between the legal status of Estonian Russians and their socio-economic and socio-cultural adaptation in Estonia. The paper draws upon data of five integration monitoring surveys, conducted in the period 2000-2008, and in-depth as well as focus group interviews connected to the surveys. The first section of the paper reveals that there are four main explanations for the persistent statelessness among Estonian Russians: (1) difficulties in learning the Estonian language and passing the citizenship test; (2) protest against the citizenship policies, as many Estonian Russians feel that they should have been granted citizenship automatically after independence was restored in Estonia; (3) opportunities provided by having the Russian citizenship; and (4) lack of practical necessity to have the Estonian citizenship, as it does not affect a person’s daily life. The second section of the paper reveals that Estonian citizens are younger, better educated and in a better socio-economic situation compared to the persons in other legal status groups among Estonian Russians. However, further analysis reveals that acquiring Estonian citizenship is not a reflection of a higher sense of belonging of the Estonian Russian citizens, compared to stateless persons, as is presumed in the citizenship ideology of the Estonian state, but rather an instrumental strategy, aimed at consolidating their human and social capital.