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Estonia was under foreign occupation for 40 years. At the end of that period, it imposed a straightforward language requirement for ex-colonists to gain citizen

Estonia was under foreign occupation for 40 years. At the end of that period, it imposed a straightforward language requirement for ex-colonists to gain citizenship. - It did not try to throw them out like many countries have done in the past. - It did not simply keep them around as jus sanguinis countries do. I've known a person whose PARENTS were born in Switzerland and she doesn't have a citizenship. So kindly let's all ease off on indignation before learning at least a tiny bit about a) Estonian history and b) how citizenship laws very in all our oh-so-advanced mature Western democracies.

yeahforsureman 8y ago
They were invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union, not the ethnic Russian individuals that moved or were transferred there under Stalin's rule and thereafter, let alone their kids who many have never lived anywhere else. Your failure to make a distinction between a state, its ethnic composition and the individuals residing there just kinda embarassingly highlights the ethno-nationalist ideology underlying these laws.
- 99052882514569 8y ago
  >They were invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union, not the ethnic Russian individuals that moved or were transferred there under Stalin's rule and thereafter, let alone their kids who many have never lived anywhere else. Yes, ex-colonists are usually not personally guilty of the transgressions of their original state. >our failure to make a distinction between a state, its ethnic composition and the individuals residing there just kinda embarassingly highlights the ethno-nationalist ideology underlying these laws. Sorry, the "ethno-nationalist ideology" canard doesn't pass muster. There's absolutely no ethnic component to this. Descendants of ethnic Russians who lived in Estonia prior to 1940 (or which there were a reasonable number) were given Estonian citizenship in 1991 like any other Estonians who descend from those living in Estonia prior to 1940. The law is based on residency during occupation, not ethnic origin.

yeahforsureman 8y ago

They were invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union, not the ethnic Russian individuals that moved or were transferred there under Stalin's rule and thereafter, let alone their kids who many have never lived anywhere else. Your failure to make a distinction between a state, its ethnic composition and the individuals residing there just kinda embarassingly highlights the ethno-nationalist ideology underlying these laws.

99052882514569 8y ago
>They were invaded and occupied by the Soviet Union, not the ethnic Russian individuals that moved or were transferred there under Stalin's rule and thereafter, let alone their kids who many have never lived anywhere else. Yes, ex-colonists are usually not personally guilty of the transgressions of their original state. >our failure to make a distinction between a state, its ethnic composition and the individuals residing there just kinda embarassingly highlights the ethno-nationalist ideology underlying these laws. Sorry, the "ethno-nationalist ideology" canard doesn't pass muster. There's absolutely no ethnic component to this. Descendants of ethnic Russians who lived in Estonia prior to 1940 (or which there were a reasonable number) were given Estonian citizenship in 1991 like any other Estonians who descend from those living in Estonia prior to 1940. The law is based on residency during occupation, not ethnic origin.