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Minority Rights, Multiculturalism and EU Enlargement: the Case of Estonia*
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Smith, David J. |
| Copyright Year | 2003 |
| Abstract | I. IntroductionThe nationality question in contemporary Estonia has formed the object of considerable attention - both academic and political - over the past decade.1 In the course of 1940 to 1991, Soviet policies of industrialization led to large-scale settlement by Russians and representatives of other Soviet nationalities. Consequently, the share of 'non-titular' nationalities in Estonia's population grew from its pre-war figure of 12 per cent to 39 per cent by 1989. When Estonia restored its independence in 1991, Soviet-era settlers and their descendants (around 30 per cent of the total population) were denied any automatic right to Estonian citizenship. The citizenship law of February 1992 granted this right only to citizens of the inter-war Estonian Republic and their descendants. Other residents wishing to obtain citizenship have had to undergo naturalization, a process which requires applicants to fulfil a three (subsequently five) year residence qualification, swear an oath of loyalty to the state and demonstrate a working knowledge of the Estonian language. As a result of Soviet nationalities policy, only 13 per cent of the Russian-speaking minority professed itself fluent in Estonian at the time of independence. In the period since 1989, the state has adopted a number of measures intended to re-establish the primacy of the Estonian language in all spheres of society following the de facto 'asymmetrical bilingualism' of the Soviet era. Using the terminology developed by Rogers Brubaker, a number of commentators have identified these measures as 'nationalizing policies' - i.e. policies designed to restore the primacy of a titular nation defined in ethno- cultural terms and distinguished from the citizenry as a whole. According to Brubaker, 'nationalizing statehood' has been the dominant mode of nation-building in all of the states that have emerged or re-emerged from the collapse of Yugoslavia and the USSR.2 In Estonia and Latvia in particular the nation-state and democracy were presented as 'conflicting logics' in the aftermath of independence.3 This remained the case to a large extent in 2001, insofar as 20 per cent of the population still lacked Estonian citizenship at this time.4In the same period, Estonia has been notable for its dedicated pursuit of integration with European and Euro-Atlantic international organizations. Progress has been swift. A member of the Conference (later Organization) for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) since October 1991, Estonia joined the Council of Europe (CoE) in May 1993, and in 1998 became the first of the three Baltic States to be admitted to negotiations on European Union (EU) membership. It is now scheduled to join the EU in May 2004 following the recent Copenhagen European Council. This pursuit of integration, however, has necessarily entailed the acceptance of external constraints over the state-building process. In what follows, I examine the nexus linking EU conditionality to domestic debates on national minorities. First, I consider how Estonia has been able to reconcile its controversial nationalities policy with the EU 'Copenhagen criteria' relating to guarantees of democracy and respect for and protection of minorities. Most authors would assert that the quest for EU membership and - most notably - the receipt of a positive avis from the European Commission in 1997 have brought about a fundamental change in approach. In this regard, the hitherto prevalent 'nationalizing' (and exclusionary) ideology has given way to a new discourse of 'emerging multicultural democracy', which is in turn deemed consistent with EU norms.5 Having examined this shift, I conclude by discussing the extent to which current prescriptions for minority rights in Estonia can be deemed appropriate to the situation which currently obtains there.II. The European ContextThe current process of EU enlargement has taken shape within the context of what has been termed the western 'project' towards the post-socialist East. … |
| Starting Page | 37 |
| Ending Page | 37 |
| Page Count | 1 |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Volume Number | 14 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.ssoar.info/ssoar/bitstream/handle/document/6205/ssoar-jemie-2003-iss_1-smith-minority_rights.pdf?sequence=1 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.gla.ac.uk/0t4/crcees/files/summerschool/readings/summerschool09/readings/Smith_for_Regelmann.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.ecmi.de/fileadmin/downloads/publications/JEMIE/2015/Smith2.pdf |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
