A constitutional amendment under discussion in the Riigikogu which, if it became reality, would strip Russian nationals resident in Estonia of their voting rights runs into two possible obstacles, according to Conservative People’s Party of Estonia (EKRE) leader Martin Helme.
These are elevating the voting rights of non-citizens to a constitutional level, firstly, and secondly, the issue of conducting loyalty checks – though Eesti 200 MP Hendrik Johannes Terras has said the latter provision would not be included in the constitutional amendment in any case.
Appearing on Wednesday evening’s “Esimene stuudio,” Helme said: “This is not currently covered [by the Estonian Constitution] and has never been; it is addressed by lower-level legislation. Now, they want to elevate it to the constitutional level.”
“This would serve to weaken the Constitution significantly and create a major legal loophole in state law, over the long term. Not just for those who currently hold gray passports; who can guarantee that Russia won’t instruct its citizens to discard their passports and obtain gray ones?” Helme continued, referring to travel documents issued by Estonia to persons of indeterminate citizenship residing here – overwhelmingly Russian speakers, but not Russian citizens.
“We would then be back to square one with this discussion,” the EKRE leader went on.
More read: ERR.EE