Speaking on ETV show "Aktuaalne kaamera," Sibul said that the SDE's proposal for a declaration of this kind from foreign voters is not a good one, especially from a legal point of standpoint.

"It is not a good idea. It is not a good idea in the legal sense, first of all, because the obligation to swear allegiance is very likely to infringe fundamental rights – above all, the principles of freedom of opinion and freedom of belief," he explained.

In addition, according to Sibul, it would also be necessary to look at how a proposal like that could even be put into practice.

Sibul pointed out that so far in Estonia and elsewhere in the world, considerable efforts have been made to make elections more accessible to the people, so there would be many questions about the potential reintroduction of any restrictions.

"Our electoral arrangements so far have always been geared towards getting as many voters as possible to vote and making everything as accessible as possible to the voter. This kind of censorship, you could say. Over the last century, we've removed and abolished all sorts of censorship in the Western world. In that sense, I think there is a lot of room for reflection and a lot of questions," Sibul said.

Sibul stressed that even if the Constitution is eventually amended to include questions about people's views in relation to elections, that may still mean there is a restriction on freedom of opinion. Disputes in this regard could even later end up in the Supreme Court, he said.

On Friday, former Internal Security Service (ISS) Director General Arnold Sinisalu raised the question of what will happen to people who have not provided a declaration. According to Sibul, it is unthinkable that law enforcement agencies would start checking tens of thousands of people.

"I also know that the police and the cabinet already have enough work to do at the moment and to start checking tens of thousands of people would certainly be very questionable. We know that if somebody has committed a specific act that is not in accordance with the law, that person will be expelled from Estonia. I can't imagine that people who don't give this declaration of loyalty should be expelled from Estonia," he commented.

Sibul does not know of any other country in the Western world where a declaration of this type is compulsory. There is, however, a registration requirement in place, but this would, in Sibul's view, complicate the electoral process.

"The voter registration requirement, which is part of the SDE's proposal, is something that the United States, for example, does. Estonia has never done it. It would add another layer of complexity to Estonia's electoral system, and the addition of each extra layer would mean more mistakes," Sibul said.

"In that sense, I would think very seriously before doing that, because our electoral roll, or the list of people who can vote on election day, comes from the population register and it is an entirely automatic system. The changes that are made in the population register will also affect the electoral roll and people will be able to do that. However, adding that layer to it will certainly create additional complexity," he added.

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