Estonia Considers Barring Russians and Belarusians from Local Elections

The Estonian government has unveiled a proposal to temporarily suspend the voting rights of Russian and Belarusian citizens who are permanent residents of the country in local elections. This initiative has been reported by ERR.

The Estonian Ministry of Justice has drafted a bill that would temporarily deny citizens of aggressor nations the right to vote in local elections. The Minister of Justice plans to present this bill to coalition partners and the public for discussion in the near future.

Currently, foreign nationals residing in Estonia with long-term or permanent residency documents, who have reached the age of 16 by the time of elections, are eligible to participate in local elections. The next such elections are scheduled for 2025.

The justification for the bill argues that the current practice of allowing Russians and Belarusians to vote in local elections poses a threat to internal stability and national security, as Estonia cannot ensure that individuals from these countries are free from the influence of their respective citizenship states.

The authors of the bill also refer to constitutional values that, in their view, require protection. The bill preamble states: "Restrictions on the voting rights of citizens of an aggressor state in local self-government elections can primarily be justified by the goal of protecting the internal and external peace of the state, as defined in the preamble to the Constitution, as well as by the goal of safeguarding the territorial integrity of the state as a value of the constitutional order and the state based on security."

The bill also envisions involving local self-government bodies in the presidential election process in certain cases where parliament fails to make corresponding decisions after three attempts. Some decisions of national significance could also be delegated to local self-government bodies.

Furthermore, the bill makes reference to instances where Russians residing in Estonia receive summons from Russia for service in the Russian army.

The proposed changes entail a temporary suspension of voting rights in local elections for foreign nationals who are citizens of countries recognized as aggressors by Estonia or the European Parliament.