The three coalition parties Reform, SDE and Eesti 200 could not reach an agreement on the issue in coalition negotiations, with SDE blocking the move, the website reported.

"The Reform Party's and my personal view is that the right to vote in local elections should be taken away from Russian and Belarusian citizens, but the rule of the coalition is that either things are done together or there is no coalition," said Michal told Delfi on Monday.

He confirmed that SDE is against the plan, but a future coalition could settle on a different agreement.

"If we should no longer be in coalition with the Social Democrats, we will vote for it," he added.

SDE Chairman and Minister of Interior Lauri Läänemets said citizenship is not the problem, but the way people think.

"After all, we also saw in the last European Parliament elections that Estonian citizens voted for the KOOS leader [Aivo Peterson], who has been arrested on treason charges. It's not citizenship-based," he told Delfi.

On Wednesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said his party disagreed with SDE.

"It is up to the Socialists to decide whether they want the citizens of the aggressor state to vote in Estonia or not. At the moment they think they could choose. We have a completely different view," Tsahkna said.

The idea to strip longer Russian and Belarusian citizens of their right to vote was raised after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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