In his opinion piece "Inability for conversation over voting rights," SDE deputy head and Mayor of Tallinn Jevgeni Ossinovski played the compassion and empathy card, talking about an 80-year-old lady in Narva who has not wished to learn Estonian in 30 years and is likely to die right after the 2025 locals, spouses of professional Soviet soldiers, a 17-year-old youth struggling to get rid of their Russian citizenship and a Russian businessman who, as tends to be the case in Russia, is the target of a criminal investigation in muddy waters.

Of course, one cannot help but feel sorry for all of these Chekhovian characters. However, I feel a lot more sorry for killed and severely wounded Ukrainian soldiers, tortured or killed Ukrainian civilians, children, women and men, young and old, Ukrainian women and men who have been raped, deported Ukrainian children. The citizens of Ukraine and their destroyed cities, industry and villages.

All of it is really happening, every day and every hour right here in Europe. Russia is in its tenth year of waging war against Ukraine, intent on wiping free Ukraine off the map and deleting the Ukrainian nation.

The conflict goes beyond an imperialistic war of conquest of Putin and his comrades. It is also the Russian people's war for destroying Ukraine. It is furthermore an attempt by authoritarian regimes to change the world order. Data from the Levada Center suggests 78 percent of Russians support Putin and through him the war.

In October of 2022, the Riigikogu denounced the authoritarian regimes in Russia and Belarus as terrorist and fostering terrorism.

Even though elections in Russia and Belarus constitute political sketches as opposed to real democratic elections, we would be wise to know the political mentality of those countries' citizens. There are over 80,000 Russian citizens living in Estonia and I dare not believe those with Russian passports in their pockets are independent Estonia's biggest fans or at least free of the Kremlin's frame of mind and influence.

In March of this year, 75 percent of Russian citizens who voted in Estonia voted for Putin, a dictator who is internationally wanted for war crimes. A Russian passport is a silent obligation not just to side with Putin in the war but also to fight in it. Not much else needs to be added.

Local governments in Estonia are tasked with more than clearing snow, organizing free public transport and waste collection. Among their core tasks is running elementary and basic schools. The citizens of no aggressor state should have influence over new generations, neither through their actions or inaction.

A vivid example of this is the decades-long practice of inventing reasons to stall switching to Estonian language tuition in schools in Tallinn and Narva in particular. This only has one aim: to segregate and split society, keeping the Russian-speakers in the Kremlin's sphere of information.

I don't even want to think about the possibility of citizens of aggressor states getting to influence the presidential election in the Electoral College, should the Riigikogu fail to elect the next president.

The Kremlin has attempted to sway elections all over the world, attacking free speech, democracy and the rule of law in an attempt to dismantle our free and prosperous way of life. Russia is already fighting a war in Europe and threatening to expand it. Give me one good reason why we should just trust Russian citizens.

The 1992 constitution did not know to suspect Russia, which had chosen a democratic path, or the settlers who stayed in Estonia. We had hope, while both hopes have largely failed to materialize over the past 30 years. A part of migrants has decided not to integrate, which is why we need to amend our constitution.

The Riigikogu has amended Section 156 of the constitution, dealing with local governments, twice before. First, by extending the term of office of local councils from three years to four and then by lowering the local elections voting age from 18 years to 16.

The old parties are not fans of the possibility to amend the constitution with a referendum, even though it would be a quick way to solve the problem. The Estonian people are very likely to support stripping Russian citizens of their right to vote and it would do away with the argument, according to which the Riigikogu cannot change that which has been decided at a referendum (passing the constitution – ed.). The people I've spoken to in the street and the Pärnu Market have all told me there's nothing to think about here.

Four out of the six parliament parties clearly want to revoke aggressor state citizens' right to vote in local elections decisively and post haste. Unfortunately, the votes of the four parties are not enough to amend the constitution in expedited process. This requires 81 votes.

It seems that the Social Democrats have opted for stalling tactics in the hope that the constitution cannot be amended by the time of the next local elections [in 2025]. However, if draft legislation to amend the constitution is filed this week, it would be possible to get it done by March 2025, which leaves enough time before locals in the fall.

The Center Party, which clearly represents Russian-speaking people, has few MPs and even less influence in the parliament.

But the coalition Social Democrats seem to be a two-headed political animal. The Social Democrats' leader, Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets has overseen the removal of the Narva tank monument – a symbol of Russian occupation – and efforts to strip Russian and Belarusian citizens of their weapons permits, while the Ministry of the Interior is busy uprooting the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin. Why then should Russian citizens vote for the Social Democrats at elections? Is the reason that Jevgeni Ossinovski is serving as mayor of Tallinn and Julianna Jurtšenko, a vocal proponent of Russian schools in Estonia, as the Lasnamäe city district elder?

Ossinovski seems to have made the cannibalization of the Center Party his mission, resorting to every political technology trick in the book to woo as many non-Estonian-speaking voters as possible for the purposes of local elections, especially in Tallinn and in an attempt to become even more popular by the time of the next general election. This, of course, runs the risk of SDE becoming like Center in its turn. Former Centrists (several prominent former members of the Center Party have recently joined SDE – ed.) also find it easier to defend Russian and Belarusian citizens as it is in Center's DNA.

Until recently, SDE have resorted to a nuclear briefcase-like threat to dismantle the coalition should its partners Eesti 200 and the Reform Party decide to try and amend the constitution.

But political passions are running high now and it's likely the Social Democrats have begun to realize they would have much to lose and little to gain. Quitting the coalition over the voting rights of Russian and Belarusian citizens would provide the party with a quick overview of what their recent voters would think of such a political pirouette.

Luckily, the Social Democrats have walked back their proposal to give the Internal Security Service and the police powers to register or not register as voters Russian and Belarusian citizens who might sport a dubious mentality. We'll take what we can get.

While aware of this strategic dilemma, the Tallinn mayor is still promoting the idea of Russian and Belarusian citizens needing to register to vote and confirm their mentality by providing their signature. Ossinovski's claim that third country citizens already have to register for European elections makes for a half-truth.

E-Estonia has a functional digital voter registry, which also covers local elections. Third country citizens taking part in European Parliament elections in Estonia have not been required to sign declarations on whether Putin is a war criminal or whether Viktor Orban is an honest man and a nice person.

I would believe my eyes if I saw such a mentality control proposal in communist China, but not in democratic Estonia and the EU. I would believe it, while I still wouldn't understand it. Leaving aside increased bureaucratic workload and relevant expenses, how is it possible to allow people access to the ballot box based on mentality control? It sounds like something out of a police state's handbook or an unpublished George Orwell dystopia. Even in the Soviet Union, the bolshevists allowed everyone to approach the ballot box.

I like the idea of allowing, in addition to Estonian citizens, all EU and NATO members' citizens, why not those of Switzerland and Lichtenstein and even citizens of countries that have entered into a mutual agreement with Estonia to vote in local elections.

But I'm not sure that citizens of communist China need to have the right to vote in Estonian elections, as their values and understanding of the world are completely different while they outnumber us thousand to one. I trust our NATO allies Turkey, Albania, Norway, USA and Canada far more. Not to mention the Finns, Italians and Latvians.

Non-citizens are guaranteed almost all constitutional rights and obligations, with the exception of two aspects that prescruibe the very nature and national defense of our democratic parliamentary republic. Citizens are obligated to take part in national defense and have the right to defend their country. The right of aggressor state citizens to participate in our elections is not in keeping with the spirit of the constitution.

The purpose of our constitution is to ensure the survival of the Estonian people, language and culture in perpetuity. But a new and deteriorating global security situation now requires a rapid constitutional amendment.

The two-headed Social Democratic Party (SDE) seems to be stumped at the crossroads between the East and West, still busy looking inward. I would very much like to believe that this contemplation will not take too long, allowing us to take decisions that are necessary for Estonia together sooner rather than later.

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