Survey: Pro-integration attitudes increasingly widespread in Estonia

Events in recent years have generally had a positive impact on the integration of people living in Estonia, according to the latest integration survey. However, the issue of certain groups feeling alienated from the broader society remains.
There are people with over 200 different nationalities live in Estonia, with at least as many languages spoken.
According to Eda Silberg, undersecretary for cultural diversity at the Estonian Ministry of Culture, contact between people of different nationalities has increased, as has the motivation to learn Estonian.
"The biggest fear was that [different] communities would no longer communicate with each other. Fortunately, this has not happened. We still do have, especially among young people, increased contact between people of different nationalities. And something we see as a positive, is that the motivation to learn Estonian has increased. We also see that active use of Estonian has improved," Silberg said.
The number of people who do not speak the country's official language at all has decreased rapidly. While one in five Estonian citizens of other nationalities did not previously speak a word of Estonian, this is now the case for only around four percent.
Looking ahead to the future, according to Marju Lauristin, professor emeritus at the University of Tartu and editor-in-charge of the study, too much emphasis has sometimes been placed on the transition to Estonian-language education.
In Lauristin's view, there is a need to not only focus on language, but also on the expansion of the Estonian mindset, including in areas such as the understanding of history.
"Estonia and Europe in general, and Russia too. This kind of understanding of history and this kind of civic awareness, civic education. This will change the situation very significantly. It should, if we take it seriously. At the moment, there is a very big difference," Lauristin said.
There is still a significant section of the population who feel alienated from society. One in four permanent residents of other nationalities, and one in ten Estonians, see themselves this way.
"This problem is very much still the same issue as welfare and socio-economic development. It is clear that for those who are plagued by such everyday problems, all their other problems have become more acute," said Lauristin.
On the labor market, the prospects for people of other nationalities are less favorable than for those with Estonian citizenship. The former are mainly employed in manufacturing and tend to receive around a fifth less pay than the latter.
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Editor: Valner Väino, Michael Cole
Source: "Aktuaalne kaamera"