[Linda16]

Originally Posted by Sunrider

The Estonian government refuses to grant citizenship to a large portion of its Russian population (in fact, not only its Russian population falls victim to these policies; the same goes for Ukrainians, Germans etc., anyone whose forebears did not posses Estonian citizenship before the Soviet annexation). Only 35% of the Estonian Russian population (which itself is between a quarter and a third of the entire Estonian population) holds Estonian citizenship; about the same percentage holds no citizenship at all; the remaining Estonian Russians hold Russian citizenship, but this brings along major disadvantages when living in Estonia (basically, you have a whole lot less rights; for example, the only elections you can vote in are municipal elections).

Estonian government does not refuse to grant citizenship to the abovementioned group. The citizenship has to be applied for.

Any alien can submit an application for the acquisition of Estonian citizenship, if he or she has settled in Estonia before July 1, 1990 and resides permanently in Estonia on the basis of a residence permit during the time of the submission of the relevant application or has stayed permanently in Estonia on the basis of a long-term residence permit for at least five years prior to the date on which he or she submits an application for Estonian citizenship.

An alien who wishes to acquire Estonian citizenship has to:
be at least 15 years of age;
have general knowledge of Estonian needed in everyday life;
have knowledge of the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia and the Citizenship Act;
have a permanent legal income, which ensures his or her own subsistence and that of his or her dependants;
be loyal to the Estonian state;
take an oath: "Taotledes Eesti kodakondsust, tõotan olla ustav Eesti põhiseaduslikule korrale" [In applying for Estonian citizenship, I swear to be loyal to the constitutional order of Estonia.]
In order for an adult to acquire Estonian citizenship he or she has to pass an exam on his/her knowledge of the official language and an exam on his/her knowledge of the Constitution and the Citizenship Act of the Republic of Estonia.

Source: http://www.mig.ee/eng/citizenship/citizenship/

So, basically for getting Estonian citizenship one has to live in Estonia at least for five years, be loyal to Estonian state, have permanent legal income and to know basic Estonian. These terms are not very difficult to follow.

Also, discrimination against Russian Estonians is very common in everyday life in Estonia.

Estonian Russians are not discriminated.

As for the Lihula monument - it was moved by the Estonian authorities and is now in the museum. The fact that some Estonian men fought against Soviet army with Germans, is part of our history. However, these men fought in a separatate division and their ideology was neither Nacional Socialism nor fascism, but they fought for their own country - Estonia. The goal was to resist Soviet troops and establish independent Estonia - like Finland managed to do. There is another thread - General discussion about Russia - where haku and simon are thoroughly and objectively explaining Estonia's history.

Originally Posted by Sunrider

I think a large number of Russian youths in Estonia really do not believe the country has a right to exist.

It's a very sad statement to be heard. Estonia is a souvereign independent country, member of NATO and EU. Our state exists and is steady.