The issue was raised by Riigikogu members on Tuesday. While two coalition parties, including Reform, support removing rights from stateless citizens, SDE does not. This could cause a rift in the government.

Speaking in an interview with ETV+'s Russian language program "Nädala intervjuu," Michal discussed the need to change the constitution to stop Russian citizens from voting in Estonian elections.

"The essence of the changes is simple — those people whose citizenship ties them to other countries, particularly aggressor states such as Russia and Belarus, should not be able to participate in discussions about the future of our country. Non-citizens, meaning holders of gray passports, will retain their voting rights — at least under the current situation in parliament," the prime minister said.

Amending the constitution is a length process and as broader consesus as possible will be sought, he added.

Michal also outlined the process: "To amend the constitution, a broader consensus is, of course, necessary in parliament. There are clearly two options. To make the change in one parliamentary term, a supermajority is needed. Otherwise, it can be done by two consecutive parliaments. At the moment, there is mutual understanding between parties. Even opposition parties recognize that it's possible to try to make these changes already now, before the next local elections."

In November, the Riigikogu passed the first reading of a draft law proposed by the coalition parties, which would preserve voting rights in local elections for Estonian citizens, as well as NATO and European Union citizens and stateless persons.

Eesti 200 and Reform also wanted to remove voting rights from gray passport holders, but the Social Democrats did not agree.

The second reading of the bill will take place no earlier than February 20.

After that, there will be a one-month waiting period before the final vote takes place.

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