The Russian Minorities in the Former Soviet Republics by Anna Batta

Author:Anna Batta [Batta, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Research, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781000485578
Google: 8kpREAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2021-12-24T05:28:49+00:00

The Russian minority after independence

Inclusion, exclusion, discrimination, citizenship, and language

Overall, the Russian minority in the Baltic States have not been given similar level of political rights as other minorities typically enjoy in Europe, perhaps with the exception of Lithuania. This does not mean that legislation toward this group has not improved over time; it clearly did. One such example is recent legislation regarding stateless children in Latvia and Estonia. However, there is still much work that needs to be done to accommodate and integrate the Russian minority. The level of progress and integration depends on various viewpoints, and the topic is politicized. The process of minority policy-making is determined not only by the titular governments but also by European institutions and Russia as well, and “the influence of external actors has depended to a large extent on how domestic policy-makers frame them in order to bring policy outcomes more into line with their own domestic agendas” (Schulze 2018: 3). Paying attention to domestic audience costs and strategic framing have been instrumental to policy outcomes. According to Schulze, the level of inclusion and exclusion and the degree of progress made is determined by strategic framing and it also depends on which time period we are analyzing. Let us look at various key positions and then discuss the progression of minority politics.

Many different positions exist regarding the legal status and representation of the Russian minority.11 Some people recognize that there is no single “Russian voice,” and the group is divided about their stance on this issue.12 While we speak collectively of Russian speakers or Russian minority in the Baltic States, this group is not homogenous. There is a great deal of variety in terms of opinions and coping mechanisms with the situation. As Olga Proskurova says, “we are a minority but are we a community? Not really. […] Partially because no one was interested in becoming a community. We are all divided, in a very individual way and we approach issues differently.”13

The government and mainstream local expert opinion regarding the status of Russians is that minority rights are and have been in accordance with international law. When the Latvian citizenship law was adopted in the 1990s, experts argued that Latvian policy did not contradict international standards with respect to minority issues. The background reasoning for this stance was that if a country was occupied in the past and aggression took place against the titular group, going back to pre-World War II regulations was acceptable.14 When the immigration process began in the 1950s and 1960s, Latvian politicians expressed their opposition to Russians coming to Latvia; however, non-compliance with Soviet policies was not an option at the time. For example, Russian migration to Latvia increased the percentage of Russians from 10 percent in 1935 to almost 50 percent by 1989. The ethnic composition between titulars and Russians has changed drastically. In 1991, when Latvia faced the challenge of dealing with the question of the Russian minority after independence, Latvia could have asked Russians to return to Russia, but it did not.

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