MINELRES: Fwd: RFE/RL: Estonia Extends Validity of Language Certificates

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Snjezana Bokulic <multiethnic-owner@yahoogroups.com>


RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 6, No. 106, Part II, 7 June 2002

ESTONIA EXTENDS VALIDITY OF LANGUAGE CERTIFICATES. By a vote of 35 to
23, the parliament extended the validity of existing
language-proficiency certificates issued to noncitizens until 1
January 2004, BNS reported on 6 June. Their validity was to have ended
on 1 July of this year. The mostly Russian-speaking Estonian United
People's Party submitted alternative bills that would have made the
certificates permanent or automatically replaced them with
certificates of a new type. Arguing that many certificates had been
forged or issued unlawfully, the Pro Patria Union actively opposed
these bills. The union pointed out that the certificates can easily be
falsified and that it is not possible to identify the holder by the
certificate, as there is no register of the certificates issued.
Noting that the National Examination Center would be unable to test by
1 July all the people who needed to renew their certificates, the
ruling coalition of the Center and Reform Parties suggested the
18-month extension. SG