Estonian MPs pass bill to limit voting rights for Russian minority

Estonia bans non-EU citizens from local election voting, mostly Russians and Belarusians affected

Estonia's parliament on March 26 voted to amend the constitution to deprive non-EU citizens — mainly targeting Russins and Belarusians — voting rights in local elections, Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) reported.

Estonia restricts the right to vote for Russian, Belarussian residents

With a decision that passed almost unnoticed in the European media, the Estonian Parliament has approved an amendment that strips around 150,000 foreign residents of their right to vote. These residents are mostly Russian and Belarusian citizens and stateless persons classified as non-citizens. This measure marks the end of a fragile balance in regions with a strong Russian-speaking presence and raises many questions about the state of democracy…

Russians and Belarusians will no longer be allowed to take part in local elections. Some welcome the decision – others fear that minorities could continue to encapsulate themselves.

The Estonian parliament has abolished the municipal right to vote for Russian and other non-European citizens through a constitutional amendment. In Estonia, around 80,000 Russian nationals live. Commentators of the state press shed light on the background and consequences.

In Estonia, Parliament voted in favour of a bill excluding the Russian minority and other non-European citizens from the right to vote in local elections.

Estonian lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favor of a law banning residents of non-European Union countries from voting in local elections, a measure aimed at the large number of Russian citizens living in the Baltic state,...