From: Tom Gray <tgray@igc.apc.org>
Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe
Date: 08 Jan 93 14:55 PST
Subject: IPS: Estonia: Identity Crisis
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1472700019:000:5386
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!tgray    Jan  8 14:55:00 1993


/* Written 12:03 am  Dec 12, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in igc:ips.englibrary */
VCopyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: United Nations
Title: ESTONIA: Identity crisis prevails one year after independence


an inter press service feature

by milla sundstroem

helsinki, dec 9 (ips) -- just one year old, the young baltic
republic of estonia, just off the southern coast of finland, faces
an identity crisis.

after years as part of the huge soviet empire, estonians now have
to shake-off their deep-rooted feeling of being a minority, while
the real ethnic minority, the russians, can no longer consider the
country a mere province of their homeland and must come to terms
with their new status.

this is the view of klara hallik, a researcher at the estonian
academy of science and former estonian minister responsibile for
nationality matters.

hallik was in helsinki last weekend to present a seminar on
nationalism and racism, organised by the peace committee of
finnish journalists.

the question of citizenship and minority rights in estonia and
the two other baltic republics, latvia and lithuania, has been the
focus of international interest in their first year of
independence.

russians living in the baltics have complained repeatedly that
their rights are not honoured in the new laws on citizenship
approved by the three states.

international delegations from the united nations and the
conference on security and cooperation in europe (csce) have
visited the baltics, but without finding any evidence of human
rights violations.

against this background, hallik talked about the socio-
psychological complexity of her country's nationality problems
which she described as "an equation with several unknowns".

estonia was annexed by the soviet union in 1940. for the next 50
years, it was subjected to ''a colonialism aimed at integrating
the baltic states into the soviet union'', said hallik.

hundreds of thousands of ethnic russians were transported to
estonia which led to the birth of an ''ethnically broken
society''.

according to hallik, two parallel societies emerged in estonia.
the population of 1.6 million was divided into estonians (60
percent) and ''others'', mainly russians (40 percent).(more/ips)

estonia: identity crisis prevails one year after independence(2-e)

estonia: russians (2)

the russians concentrated mainly in the capital, tallinn, where
they formed over half of the population, and in the north-eastern
region of the country, along the russian border.

the city of narva in this north-eastern area has been almost
completely ''cleansed'' of estonians. in 1940, 35 percent of its
population was russian, now they make up 96 percent.

hallik added that the coasts and islands of estonia also became
more or less ''prohibited areas'' to estonians as they were not
allowed to enter the soviet red army's military districts without
permission.

the proportion of the population -- of all ethnic backgrounds --
who speak estonian, has dropped continuously. in 1970, 73 percent
of inhabitants spoke the language fluently, in 1989, the figure
had dropped to 67 percent.

these developments have led to a crisis of identity in both
ethnic groups, hallik said. without the right to self
determination, the identity of the estonians shrunk. their only
aim was to preserve their culture under the almighty power of the
soviet communist party.

hallik noted, however, that this situation was also used as an
excuse by the estonians for avoiding any sense of responsibility.
the blame could always be put on the party, she said.

there are problems with russian identity, too. for historical
reasons, their prevailing vision is very state-oriented. and,
unlike the older estonians, they have no memories at all of a
democratic society.

''the russians cultural background was not important because it
was never threatened in the soviet union. their language was
dominant,'' hallik said.

this explains why the russians now feel like they are being
thrown overboard by an independent estonia where the possibility
of acquiring the citizenship have been strictly restricted.
estonian law requires foreigners requesting citizenship to show
good knowledge of the national language.

an applicant must also estonian be resident in the country for at
least two years since the spring of 1990. after that it still
takes a minimum of one year before applications can be approved.

hallik said it was a mistake to also make these requirements
apply to estonians born across the russian border -- like herself - -
and to russians and other minorities whose mother tongue is
estonian.

to solve the identity crisis, said hallik, the estonians need
to liberate themselves from their minority mentality. only then
will the fledgling state be able to integrate all its minorities.
(end/ips/hr/ms/ad/92)

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Tom Gray (tgray@igc.apc.org)

Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe,soc.culture.spain,soc.culture.italian,soc.culture.mexican,soc.culture.portuguese,soc.culture.usa