“Russian Baltic” – it sounds proudly
October 15 is a special date for the Baltic countries: exactly 30 years ago, in 1991, the then Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia passed a resolution “On the restoration of citizenship rights and basic conditions for naturalization”. Thus, Latvia, having regained itself in one fell swoop, divided all its citizens into citizens and non-citizens. In fact, at the state level, a split in society has been formalized, which continues to this day.
In Russia, many people still do not understand that in Latvia and Estonia “non-citizens” are in fact a special legal status granted to the former “Soviet” ones who do not have citizenship of other states, as well as to their children. Moreover, “as well as their children” is already in the past, since 2019 everyone who was born into the families of non-citizens in Latvia will automatically receive Latvian citizenship.
Non-citizens at one time were people who moved to the Latvian SSR from other republics of the USSR in 1940-1989, as well as their children born before July 1, 1992. It actually happened because the citizenship of Latvia was recognized only for about 2/3 of the country’s inhabitants – residents of the pre-war Republic of Latvia and their descendants. Then, in 1991, legislators considered the option of adopting the “zero option” (citizenship for all residents of Latvia). One of the reasons why this did not happen is the position of Interfront. The members of the front line were opposed to being “forcibly registered as citizens of Latvia” (mostly Russians). Well, since they didn’t want to, then they and everyone else were deleted.
There was one more option. On January 14, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Latvia almost unanimously ratified the agreement “On interstate relations”, which was signed the day before by the chairman of the Latvian Armed Forces Anatoly Gorbunov and the head of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR Boris Yeltsin. It provides that persons residing on the territory of any of the republics that signed the treaty could choose citizenship of the RSFSR or Latvia “in accordance with their free will.” But the Russian Armed Forces never ratified this document.
Non-citizens have Latvian passports. Non-citizens do not have voting rights, although they can be members of Latvian parties and make donations to them. State Revenue Service and Civil Registry Office. They also cannot acquire and carry weapons.
In Latvia in the mid-90s there were about 740 thousand rubles. non-citizens, and as of 2020 – already only 108 thousand (10.4% of the country’s residents). Of these, about 130.4 thousand people (6.8%) are those who call themselves Russians by nationality. At the same time, almost 308 thousand of the citizens of Latvia called themselves “Russians” during the census – this is 16.1% of the country’s population. It turns out that there are more than twice as many Russians who have become citizens today than their fellow tribesmen who remain non-citizens. And according to the Register of Residents, more than 522 thousand rubles live in Latvia. Russians, accordingly, only 26% of them remain non-citizens.
Apart from Russians, the largest groups of non-citizens are Belarusians (13.7% of the total of this category) and Ukrainians (9.9%). But the majority of Belarusians and Ukrainians are already “Latvians”.
Why is the number of non-citizens declining rapidly? First, pensioners die. Secondly, younger people were actively naturalizing. Because it’s actually quite simple. To do this, it is enough to bring a promise of loyalty to the Republic of Latvia, to pass exams in the language, constitution, anthem and history of Latvia. That is, everything is simple and logical: living in a country all your life and not knowing its language and history is at least strange.
Naturalization accelerated in 2004 after Latvia’s accession to the EU – people did not want to lose the opening prospects. Although in 2007 non-citizens received the right to free movement in the EU countries, naturalization slowed down, and in 2009–2012 it stabilized between 2000 and 2500 naturalized per year.
At the same time, the very existence of non-citizens in Latvia remains a political problem. Pro-Russian public organizations periodically collect signatures and public appeals against non-citizenship and for expanding the rights of non-citizens. Latvian nationalists – exactly the opposite – collect rallies and signatures against the high (in their opinion) rates of naturalization.
Europeans have periodically expressed themselves in the spirit that the very existence of non-citizens as part of the population is not very democratic. There are resolutions on this by the PACE (2002) and the OSCE (2006), as well as the European Parliament (2015). However, the simplicity and consistency of Latvian citizenship makes this problem too insignificant in the eyes of Europeans. Like, who limits you? Finally learn the language, take the oath, and become citizens, no one forbids.
In Estonia, the issue of non-citizens is even less acute than in Latvia. There are non-citizens of all nationalities – this is only 68,992 people (5.2% of the population). Whereas in the early 90s there were 300 thousand of them. At the same time, the state finances Estonian language training for adults so that they can naturalize without major problems. And children already learn Estonian at school. But what is interesting: in Estonia after 1991, more non-citizens received Russian passports than Estonian ones.
The status of the Russian language in these countries also connects with the issue of citizenship in Latvia. In Latvia, since December 1999, it is considered foreign, although up to 40% of the population speaks on it or constantly from time to time. By September 1, 2021, there are no Russian-teaching schools left in the country. Which, of course, caused a sharp reaction from the Russian community in Latvia. However, today this organization does not have its former influence. New generations of “Latvian Russians” prefer not to defend the interests of Russians in Latvia, and even more so not to repatriate to their historical homeland, but “to join Europe.”
The Latvian authorities are quite happy with this situation. And in Estonia, they are indicative of their “warmth” towards the Russian population. On October 11, the new President Alar Karis, speaking before parliament at the inauguration ceremony, concluded the Russian-speaking minority. “Russian-language kindergartens offer free Estonian language lessons. They are available only to those children whose mothers or fathers paid for the lessons. But not everyone has the money for this, ”he said. – So inequality, depending on money, arises already in kindergartens. This is the first bottleneck that can affect the future of Russian-speaking children in Estonia, their competitiveness in the labor market, confidence that they are an equal part of our society. “
Today Latvia and Estonia are no longer afraid that the Russian-speaking minority of non-citizens may pose a threat to their national security (well, except for the special services – but this is their “job”). So the attitude towards Russians is changing – they are beginning to “cherish and cherish” as a minority that needs protection. And it’s hard to say what is more offensive for Russians and Russia – “assaults” or “care”.
Vyacheslav Gordienko