His Excellency

Mr Siim Kallas

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia

Rävala 9

TALLINN EE 0100

Republic of Estonia

The Hague

28 October 1996

Reference no:

1084/96/L

Dear Mr Minister,

During my recent visit (9-11 October) to Estonia I was informed about the efforts presently being undertaken to increase the effectiveness of the Presidential Round Table on inter-ethnic relations. I welcome this development, because I am convinced that inter-ethnic dialogue can help to remove misunderstandings and to identify problems which need to be resolved. I also welcomed the assurance of the Minister of Education, Mr Jaak Aaviksoo, that he gives a high priority to efforts to enhance the teaching of the Estonian language to non-Estonians. Thus, the process of integration can be stimulated. Moreover, such language training can also be of considerable help for non-Estonians applying for Estonian citizenship, who have to pass a language test.

As regards the language tests, I welcome the news that elderly applicants (born before 1 January 1930) are now exempt from the written test. I would recommend that, taking into account the difficulty elderly people have in learning a language, the oral test will also be abolished.

As regards the process of providing residence permits and alien passports to non-citizens, I have noted that there are still considerable delays. I therefore welcome the decision of your Government to continue to recognise the old Soviet internal passport beyond the expiry date of 30 November as an internal identification document as long as the new documents have not been distributed. Still, the need to complete the process of issuing new documents is evident. One aspect which has to be considered in this context is, in my view, the probability that any further delay, with resulting uncertainty and confusion amongst non-citizens, will further increase the number of persons who, while determined to stay in Estonia, decide to apply for Russian citizenship. In this respect, I recall that, according to information provided by the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Tallinn, the number of persons applying for Russian citizenship has now exceeded 110,000 and continues to rise.

I do not underestimate the many problems which have to be overcome in the process of providing non-citizens with alien passports and residence permits. I do hope, however, that everything possible will be done to speed up this process. In this connection, I recall that in the beginning of October 113,818 persons had applied for alien passports, but at the same time only 18,008 had actually been printed.

Permit me, Mr Minister, to raise also another subject relating to non-citizens in Estonia. From my conversation with the Prime Minister on 11 October I have understood that Parliament will soon be asked to ratify the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, but that the Government intends to make a formal reservation making it clear that this convention will only apply to non-etnic-Estonians who are Estonian citizens.

I should like to make the following observations. The Framework Convention was drafted with the aim to transform to the greatest possible extent the political commitments adopted by the CSCE (now OSCE) into legal obligations, (pursuant to Appendix II of the Vienna Declaration of 9 October 1993). It is also relevant to recall that Estonia, on acceding to the CSCE in September 1991, has not made any reservations regarding the political commitments relating to national minorities in the various CSCE documents. As far as the Framework Convention itself is concerned, article 6 (1) does explicitly refer to all persons living on the territory of a state ("The Parties shall encourage a spirit of tolerance and inter-cultural dialogue and take effective measures to promote mutual respect and understanding and cooperation amongst all persons living on its territory irrespective of those persons' ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious identity, in particular in the fields of education, culture and the media"). Finally, I recall the UN Declaration of 13 December 1985 on the Human Rights of Individuals who are not Nationals of the Country in which they live, and especially its articles granting individuals who are not citizens of the state in which they are living certain rights, within the framework of the domestic law of the state, such as articles 5.1 sub. f (the right to retain their own language, culture and tradition) and 5.2 sub. b (the right to freedom of expression).

I am making these remarks in order to make clear that many articles of the Framework Convention have a close resemblance to CSCE Commitments (especially the 1990 CSCE Copenhagen Document on the Human Dimension) while several resemble articles in the UN Declaration of 1985. Against this background there is in my view a risk that making the intended reservation to the Framework Convention without some clarifying remarks might lead to fears and concerns about an intended change of Estonia's policies regarding non-citizens living in Estonia, which, I would hope and expect, are in reality unfounded. I would therefore recommend that your Government would make it clear that the intended reservation will not in any way change Estonia's international commitments and obligations, and that the reservation does not signify that the Government intends to restrict the existing rights of non-citizens living on its territory.

These were the recommendations I wanted to submit to you, Mr Minister. I am looking forward with great interest to your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Max van der Stoel

OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities