Estonia: Law on Language

Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 08:37:18 +0200 (EET)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: Estonia: Law on Language

From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: Jelena Karzetskaja <[email protected]>

Estonia: Law on Language


Legal Information Centre for Human Rights
 
Despite the recommendations of Mr. Max van der Stoel, the OSCE High
Commissioner on National Minorities, and opposition of the public
which has expressed in thousands responses to the action "No - to
clamp down the Law on Language", organized by the newspaper "Estonia",
on February 12, 1999 the president of Estonia promulgated the bill of
the Law on Amendments to the Law on Language and to the Law on the
State Taxis. The following events were preceded to all of this.
 
In December 1998, the Parliament of Estonia has adopted amendments to
the Laws on the parliamentary elections, elections to the local
councils and has taken out for discussion the amendments to the Law on
Language. Mr. Max van der Stoel addressed a letter to Mr. Lennart
Meri, the President of Estonia, in which called "not to promulgate the
amendments to the law in question as adopted by the Riigikogu". He
considers, that the amendments to the Estonian laws on parliamentary
elections, elections to the local councils and the state language do
not correspond to neither Estonian Constitution nor international
obligations undertaken by Estonia. He wished to stress that
maintaining the fully open and democratic nature of the Estonia
representative political institutions in no way undermined the
preservation and protection of the Estonian language. On December, 31
the President has proclaimed this law.
 
The reaction to the recomendations by the OSCE High Commissioner was
the letter of 15 deputies of Riigikogu to Mr. Knut Volleback, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway and Chairman-in-Office of the
OSCE. The initiator of this statement, Vice-President of the Riigikogu
Culture Commission Mr. Lauri Vahtre, who had presented the bill on
amendments to the Law on Language, thinks that "the last steps
undertaken by Stoel, do not promote the decrease of tensions in
Estonia, but only warm it up" (BNS message,  "Estonia", January 30,
1999). The authors of the letter expressed dissatisfaction with work
of the High Commissioner and doubted his competence.
 
Mr. Volleback answered to this letter, that "Mr. Van der Stoel has his
full confidence" and he sees no bases for undertaking a review of the
High Commissioner's activities in Estonia. In the letter he also asked
to distribute his reply among all members of the Parliament. To our
knowledge, this request was not fulfilled, instead Mr. Tunne Kelam,
temporary fulfilling the obligations of the Speaker, has imposed the
resolution: to distribute only among the members of the Constitutional
Commission and Commission on Foreign Affairs.
 
Once more the law ignoring the recommendations and opinion of an
international public and discriminating the Russian-speaking
population of the state is adopted in Estonia. Mr. Lauri Vahtre has
characterized it as a proof that the letter of 15 deputies has reached
its objectives. Mr. Ulo Nugis, who also signed this statement,
expressed satisfaction that everybody, including Mr. Van der Stoel,
have got a fright, when 15 deputies of the Riigikogu "have shacked
finger at them".
 
The Law on amendments to the Law on Language and to the Law on the
State Taxis will come into force since July 1, 1999. The law provides
to pass an examination on knowledge of the state language. In this
connection, as a minimum 40 mln. kroones will fill up the state budget
since the tax bearer should pay 150 kroones for passing an examination
and also 50 crones for issuing to him the appropriate certificate.
 
------------------------------------------------------------------
The Legal Information Centre for Human Rights in Estonia
Nunne str 2, 10133 Tallinn, Estonia
Tel (+372 ) 64 64 27 0
Fax (+372) 64 64 272
E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: Http://www.lichr.ee
------------------------------------------------------------------

-- 
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe

Submissions: [email protected]  
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected] 
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================