Banned from the ballots
04 April 2025
Can we limit voting rights out of legitimate security concerns? Until recently, Estonia allowed non-EU citizens and stateless citizens to vote in local elections – but no more. Due to security concerns, the Estonian parliament has passed a constitutional amendment revoking their right to vote.
The change mainly targets Russian and Belarusian citizens over security concerns that Moscow could try to exploit Russian-speaking minorities to destabilise the Baltic states.
In the past, Russia has issued passports to ethnic Russians in neighbouring countries to justify military intervention, like in Ukraine or Georgia, as Russian authorities claim they are protecting their citizens. And yet – the Estonian amendment revokes voting rights for nearly 150,000 residents, including non-Russian minorities and ethnic Russians who are not pro-Putin. For example, US citizens are considered third-country citizens and will lose local voting rights.
In Latvia, the step has already been taken, and only Latvian and EU citizens can vote in local elections, whereas in Lithuania, all permanent residents have the right to vote in local elections, regardless of citizenship.
 | Saara Saskia Sutt Estonia, with a population of 1.3 million, has over 300,000 ethnic Russians, including around 90,000 Russian citizens, and 61,000 stateless individuals. Many residents became stateless after the Soviet Union’s collapse, as Estonia and Latvia did not automatically grant citizenship to all residents, unlike Lithuania. Meanwhile, Russia offered citizenship to any former USSR citizens upon request, leaving many Estonian and Latvian residents, who did not wish to have Russian citizenship, without a nationality. Many stateless individuals, while from the Russian-speaking minority, have lived in Estonia for over 30 years and consider themselves Estonian. |
Welcome to The European Correspondent
Europe lacks true European media: in Germany alone, there are more media devoted exclusively to football than news outlets specialising on Europe. The established players mainly focus on Brussels and European institutions. The European Correspondent aims to change that. We cover the whole of Europe and write for a community of citizens who want to look beyond their own national borders. Without European journalism, there is no European civil society.
〉Read our manifesto
〉The stories we would like to write for you
Become a donor!
The European Correspondent is fully funded by its readers. We can only produce the newsletter with your support - and work towards the bigger project: building true European media. Donate now!
With your help, we can create true European journalism. Thank you!
We are non-profit. Every donated € goes directly into The European Correspondent.