Isamaa chair: SDE has made Russian citizens' voting rights a 'hostage situation'
The coalition Social Democratic Party (SDE) has taken hostage the issue of Russian citizens' voting rights in Estonian local elections, Isamaa chair Urmas Reinsalu said Tuesday.
SDE MP Raimond Kaljulaid said a serious proposal to amend the constitution needs to be submitted as a prerequisite to stripping Russian and Belarusian citizens resident in Estonia of their local election voting rights, ahead of next year's municipal elections.
Isamaa, in opposition, has called for "third country" nationals, meaning non-EU/EEA citizens, to be stripped of the right to vote in local elections, ahead of the next ones a year from now.
The bill to do so has already passed its first Riigikogu reading (of three).
The possibility that citizens of third countries, including Russian and Belarusian citizens, will be able to vote in next year's Estonian local government elections is becoming increasingly likely, said Isamaa's chairman Urmas Reinsalu on the program "Esimene stuudio."
He said a hostage situation has developed in Estonia on this issue.
Reinsalu, a former foreign minister, said: "Isamaa in September brought together the parliamentary factions, and we discussed this situation."
"And it has morphed from such serious questions, which we are discussing, into such an absurd, hostage-taking situation," the Isamaa leader went on.
Reinsalu: Reform, Eesti 200, EKRE and Isamaa back legal resolution
The matter has found support across very sharp political divides, he noted.
"Four factions – the Reform Party, Eesti 200, EKRE, and Isamaa – have declared that the voting rights of citizens of an aggressor state must be resolved legally," he continued.
"[The issue has been held up by] the Social Democrats, who have said that they will not countenance it, as resolving this type of a question is unacceptable to their political agenda," Reinsalu continued.
"This is a highly critical and serious problem facing our state, where the prime minister says that this should be done in the interests of security and so on, yet he cannot do so because the Social Democrats are opposed. My firm position is that we cannot handle things like this. Also in in resolving other questions – property acquisition in Estonia by Russian citizens living in Russia, which concerns dual citizens – creates a feeling for me that the state is being taken hostage in a security crisis, but we must not permit this," the Isamaa leader went on.
Reinsalu added that Isamaa would soon be putting forward a constitutional amendment, to address the matter. "To eliminate the debate on whether a legal or constitutional amendment is actually necessary," Reinsalu put it.
"I am calling on all coalition politicians to vote according to what they believe is in Estonia's best interests. The government will not fall because of this, but seats and positions in the governing coalition should not be prioritized over Estonia's interests in this matter, and at least two of the coalition partners – the Reform Party and Eesti 200 – have declared their support for it."
Kaljulaid: Isamaa's current bill not fit to line a hamster's cage
Also appearing on "Esimene stuudio" was SDE MP Raimond Kaljulaid, who responded by asking Isamaa's leader why the party had not yet submitted a serious bill on the voting rights of Russian citizens resident in Estonia.
Kaljulaid added that an earlier proposal from Isamaa on this had been insufficient.
Kaljulaid asked: "Why hasn't a bill been submitted that would actually resolve this issue? The current Riigikogu composition has been in place for a year and a half now."
"The only proposal I could find within the Riigikogu's proceedings isn't even fit as the lining for a hamster's cage," he went on.
"It is obviously a proposal which was made so a press release could be sent out - stating that a proposal was made. The proposal that Isamaa submitted is clearly unconstitutional," he went on.
This proposal has passed its first Riigikogu reading.
"Here on this show we are talking about restricting the voting rights of Russian and Belarusian citizens, which seems like a logical step to me personally, yet the current proposal concerns all non-citizens," Kaljulaid added.
Reinsalu to Kaljulaid: 'Quit obfuscating'
Reinsalu accused Kaljulaid of obfuscation. "This proposal has been submitted, it is relevant, and it could get implemented. Remarkably, this is almost the only proposal in this session submitted by Isamaa that the other coalition partners have accepted. So stop obfuscating please."
"The issue does not lie in the legal formulation of this matter, but rather in the fact that you are ideologically opposed to it. You haven't even been ashamed of that, that, as it were philosophically, you oppose it," Reinsalu added.
Kaljulaid admitted that in light of this year's European Parliament election results, he sees the threat of pro-Russian voters potentially swaying some local governments toward the so-called "eastern side," adding he believes that pro-Russian forces in Estonia will redouble their efforts at the next local elections.
However, he did not say directly whether he supports the idea of removing voting rights from Russian citizens.
"Where would I have the opportunity to support this idea? As an MP, I can back specific legislative initiatives. No one at the Riigikogu has submitted a legislative initiative like it. I believe that Reinsalu, as a former justice minister, would never have signed off on such a poor-quality proposal from Isamaa. It is so surface level, and poorly thought-through," Kaljulaid went on.
Kaljulaid: If it's a serious matter it needs a constitutional amendment
"If a serious initiative to amend the constitution get initiated, argued, analyzed, and it is demonstrated how it relates to Estonia's security concerns, I believe this would attract very serious attention at the Riigikogu. I simply don't understand why the opposition, or other parties claiming to support this principle, haven't done so. The Social Democrats haven't made electoral pledges to initiate a bill like that, but another party has done. So put the proposal on the table, and then we can discuss it," the SDE MP went on.
Reinsalu's response: "I asked [Prime Minister Kristen] Michal about this. Michal has said that he is a 'casualty,' that he would support it, but that the Social Democrats are opposed. We are working in a hostage situation. It is particularly brutal not to mention totalitarian to say that the influence of pro-Russian politics in Estonia has gone up, and you tolerate it, then we see that in reality, at the local government elections, we can foresee that this influence via the voting rights of these Russian citizens will expand even more. I think that is irresponsible."
As things stand, all foreign nationals permanently resident in Estonia can vote in local elections, making this the widest franchise of any of the three direct elections.
With the changed security situation, this has brought into the limelight the question of what to do with citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus, who might put their vote behind pro-Kremlin parties such as Koos/Vmeste, at the next local elections in October 2025.
Next local election takes place October 2025
While in most of Estonia's 79 municipalities this may not make a ripple, in some, particularly there is a large Russian-speaking populace, such as Narva and some other Ida-Viru County towns.
The influence of the Russian citizen vote could significantly impact the elections' results, and so therefore the makeup of the local government that follows.
Former Isamaa leader and sitting MP Helir-Valdor Seeder said this week that the voting rights of third-country nationals will not likely be suspended before the local government elections, due to time constraints.
SDE had also removed the issue from the table during its Tallinn city government coalition talks with Eesti 200, Reform and Isamaa itself, back in the spring.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Merili Nael
Source: "Esimene stuudio", moderator Liisu Lass.