The coalition is discussing blocking Russians and Belarusians from voting in local elections and changing the constitution. There is still disagreement among the three parties.

On Friday, Chairman of the Constitutional Committee Hendrik Terras (Eesti 200) said citizens of Estonia, NATO and EU member states, and Switzerland should have the right to vote in local elections. Individual agreements could be concluded with other countries whose citizens live in Estonia, such as Ukraine.

Terras said the bill could be submitted to the Riigikogu next week .

Center Party Chairman Mihhail Kõlvart said it is not yet clear what the content of the draft will be.

Kõlvart told ERR the right to vote in local elections should be based on a person's relationship with Estonia, not with other countries.

"Firstly, Ukrainian citizens already have the right to vote in local elections if they are permanent residents. In this case, I do not quite understand what problem they are trying to solve," he said, commenting on Terras's proposal.

"But in my opinion, it must be the case that a person gets the right to vote in local elections, not based on his connection to a country, whether it is the place of birth or citizenship, but based on how they are connected to our country," Kõlvart said.

"If they are a permanent resident, if they know the language, if they have an income, i.e. all the criteria that must be guaranteed to be granted a permanent residence permit, then they could vote in local elections based on that. It should not be based on whether they came from one country or another it is our interest to assess what their connection is with this country, our interest is to assess what their connection is with our country."

Seeder: Isamaa prefers its own draft

Chairman of the Isamaa faction Helir-Valdor Seeder said he has not seen the draft, but that Isamaa still prefers its own.

"The only reasonable solution is to proceed with the bill already in the Riigikogu for amending the constitution, which has also been signed by two Eesti 200 members of parliament. If we can reach a broad consensus in the Riigikogu, we can make all the necessary amendments to this bill. Right now, it's crucial that the first reading takes place in November," Seeder said.

"In our view, it should be addressed in the same way by defining, through constitutional amendment, who has the right to vote, rather than specifying who does not," he added.

Helme: Ukrainians should not be able to vote in local elections

EKRE chairman Martin Helme said the party is ready to support an amendment to change voting rights for third-country nationals in the constitution.

"When we talk about this restriction of the right to vote, our firm position is that we support it in any case. We have been advocating for it ourselves. For 10 years, we have argued that voting rights should be restricted to citizens, both in local and parliamentary elections, which would, of course, still inevitably include voting rights for citizens of European Union countries," Helme told ERR.

Helme stressed that EKRE does not support extending voting rights to Ukrainian citizens.

"Ukrainian citizens form the second-largest group of non-citizens eligible to vote here, following Russian citizens. Ideologically, I do not see the point in granting voting rights to some Slavic countries while withholding them from others. As we all know, many Ukrainians here often hold dual citizenship with Russia, carrying two passports in their pockets. Most of them are Russian-speaking and largely immersed in the Russian information sphere. I am not labeling them as [President Vladimir] Putin supporters, but their worldview and voting preferences are likely not much different from those of Russian citizens living here," he said.

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