"The news published on Friday morning by ERR, indicating that Lauri Läänemets (SDE) is ready to limit the voting rights of citizens from aggressor states and stateless persons in Estonian local government council elections, marks a radical shift in the Social Democrats' previously negative stance. The Social Democrats had previously ruled out revoking voting rights through a legal amendment, asserting that it would require a constitutional change, which they were not prepared to support. This turnaround in the party's position gives hope that they are ready to engage in this topic," Isamaa said in a press release.

"Due to this reversal by the Social Democrats, Isamaa is proposing to the Riigikogu speaker to immediately convene the Elder's Council so that the parliamentary leadership and representatives of the factions can jointly discuss how to proceed with the revocation of voting rights for citizens of aggressor states and stateless persons in Estonia's local elections."

Isamaa whip Helir-Valdor Seeder stressed that "the most secure and legally sound solution to the voting rights issue is, after all, a constitutional amendment. In our view, it would be reasonable to hold the first reading of the constitutional amendment bill initiated by 28 members of the Riigikogu at the earliest opportunity, as the Constitution requires a minimum of three months between the first and second readings. During this period, we could reach a consensus on the exact wording of the text," Seeder said.

Isamaa leader Urmas Reinsalu added that he is pleased to see the Social Democrats retreating from their original rigid position.

Regarding the revocation of voting rights, Urmas Reinsalu stated, "I believe it should be applied universally to citizens of the Russian Federation. According to the Russian Federation's constitution, Russian citizens have declared their loyalty to the Russian Federation, and that's the issue at hand."

Addressing Lauri Läänemets's proposals to require foreign citizens to declare loyalty by condemning Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine and recognizing Estonia's independence, Reinsalu said this idea should be implemented. "This is a sensible idea that should be realized, as other Baltic states do when managing the entry of individuals into the country or extending their legal residence status," he added.

"I made a proposal in the fall of 2022 concerning the establishment of a loyalty declaration. At that time, then-Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets responded at a government press conference by saying he did not understand what problem would be solved by such an attitudinal check," Reinsalu noted.

"That was his assessment back then. If he has now backtracked from that stance, even under public pressure, I believe this reversal is appropriate and serves the security interests of the Republic of Estonia in the future," Reinsalu added.

"I hope that the current move by the Social Democrats signals their openness to reaching a substantive political agreement with quality, rather than simply a desire to delay tactically or buy time," Reinsalu said.

Hendrik Terras: Amending the Constitution unavoidable

Riigikogu Constitutional Committee chair Hendrik Terras (Eesti 200), stated that revoking voting rights from Russian citizens would require amending the Constitution.

"What Mr. Läänemets proposed is insufficient; it doesn't solve the issue or meet societal expectations. At this point, the Constitution should be amended to clarify who can vote in Estonia's local elections – namely, citizens of Estonia, the European Union, the European Economic Area, NATO countries and Switzerland," Terras said.

According to Terras, it would be feasible to amend the Constitution in time for the next elections. "This can be accomplished by the next election cycle; it was discussed in the Constitutional Committee's public session on Tuesday. The only thing holding it back is political will. Four parties have expressed support for this idea, while the Social Democrats are still deliberating. However, I understand that there are members within the Social Democratic faction who support amending the Constitution to resolve this issue fully," Terras noted.

Terras added that if around 130,000 people were no longer eligible to vote in local elections, they would be welcome to apply for Estonian citizenship and complete the language exam.

He emphasized that the issue of Russian Federation citizens being unable to renounce their citizenship must be addressed. "If we proceed with amending the Constitution, we should consider relieving the requirement for a formal renunciation letter from Russia before allowing someone to obtain Estonian citizenship. We handled this similarly with people fleeing the Soviet Union. When they fled to Sweden, they technically retained Soviet citizenship, but Sweden disregarded this and granted them citizenship. We could adopt a similar approach with Russia today," Terras explained.

Ossinovski: SDE's proposal allows people who are loyal to Estonia to retain their voice in local matters

Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski, a fellow Social Democrat, voiced support for Lauri Läänemets' proposals.

"The Social Democrats have developed a substantive solution to the voting rights issue that delivers the necessary positive impact without compromising Estonia's security," Ossinovski said.

He added, "The Social Democrats have stated that applying a blanket restriction based on citizenship would harm Estonia and its security, as experts have indicated and integration studies confirm. Certainly, there are individuals among Russian citizens who pose a security risk to Estonia, but the same is true among Estonian citizens."

Ossinovski emphasized the diverse makeup of Russian citizens in Estonia, many of whom are patriotic towards Estonia and would like to acquire Estonian citizenship but are hindered from doing so because Russia does not release them from their citizenship. "As I have quoted President Alar Karis on this issue before, I do so again: 'Do we not better ensure our security by addressing each person individually, focusing on actual, tangible threats rather than casting a shadow of doubt over an entire group whose members are not given the dignity of being treated as individuals making personal choices? Such group categorization was a characteristic of another regime.' Guided by this principle, the Social Democrats have developed a better solution to address this issue," Ossinovski explained.

Instead of broadly restricting voting rights by group affiliation, Ossinovski stated that the Social Democrats propose a registration requirement for foreign nationals in local elections. Only those who affirm that they share Estonia's constitutional values and condemn Russia's aggression would be registered as voters. Additionally, security agencies would have the authority to assess specific individuals, excluding them from voter rolls if necessary. "We estimate that this amendment would reduce the number of foreign nationals with voting rights by approximately 70 percent while still allowing all loyal residents of Estonia to participate in local governance," Ossinovski commented.

Ossinovski believes such a system could be implemented in time for next year's local elections.

In an interview with ERR, Social Democratic Party chair and Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets reiterated that the party would propose to the government that only long-term foreign residents who condemn Russia's war in Ukraine be eligible to vote in local elections. Additionally, the Estonian Internal Security Service (ISS) would be granted the authority to remove undesirable individuals from the voter list.

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