FOI-R--3990--SE_reducerad

FOI-R--3990--SE
From 1995 until 2003, the parties for Russian-speaking people had their own
faction in the Riigikogu. They also had their own role to play in local
government elections, particularly in Tallinn and Narva.
Russia has financed the election campaigns of the parties for Russian-speaking
people in Estonia. These parties have competed among themselves to gain
approval and funding from Moscow. Their key election promises have centred on
the introduction of official bilingualism in Estonia, the blanket citizenship option,
and protection of the rights of Russian-speakers.
Since the 2003 parliamentary elections, however, the Russian parties have not
passed the 5 per cent electoral threshold. In 2003, the Estonian United People’s
Party won 11,113 votes (2.2 per cent) and the Russian Party in Estonia got only
990 votes (0.2 per cent). Even if the two parties had joined forces for the
elections, they would not have passed the electoral threshold. Since 1991,
Russian parties have failed to find unity or strong leaders among themselves.
Furthermore, political mobilization is traditionally rather low among Russians in
Estonia. This is partly because only Estonian citizens are allowed by law to be
members of political parties or vote in parliamentary elections. 113 Even though so
many Russians have been naturalized in recent years, this has not altered the
situation.
Besides the question of ethnicity, the political views of these parties have
differed quite a lot too. Even when it comes to the question of extending
Estonian citizenship to Russians residing in Estonia, the parties have not been
able to agree on the necessary procedures that should be put into place for
attaining an Estonian citizenship or who should be given citizenship
automatically.
This lack of unity can be seen in the number of votes Russian parties have
managed to attain. The voting preferences of the Russian-speaking electorate
demonstrate that support for purely Russian parties has decreased over the years.
This is true even in periods when the Russian authorities are believed to have
increased financial support for parties representing Russians in Estonia.
In 2007, the Constitution Party (previously known as the Estonian United
People’s Party) won 5464 votes (1.0 per cent) and the Russian Party in Estonia
got just 1084 votes (0.2 per cent). The Estonian Internal Security Service claims
that Russia offered considerable financial support to the Constitution Party that
year, but the anticipated breakthrough did not occur.
Before the 2009 elections to the European Parliament, Russia increased its
financial support and renewed its campaign efforts to secure a seat for a Russianspeaker.
The aim was to follow the example of Latvia, where Tatyana Zhdanoka
113 Juhan Kivirahk, Nerijus Maliukevičius, et al. (2009): The “Humanitarian Dimension”of Russian
Foreign Policy Toward Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and the Baltic States, Riga.
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