VZCZCXRO1586
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHTL #0406/01 3331148
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281148Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TALLINN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0942
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 2636
RUEHRA/AMEMBASSY RIGA 3012
RUEHVL/AMEMBASSY VILNIUS 6758

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 TALLINN 000406 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NB MIGUEL RODRIGUES 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV RU EN
SUBJECT: SNAPSHOT:  GROWING UP RUSSIAN IN ESTONIA 
 
REF:    A)    TALLINN 388 
 B) 07 TALLINN 280 
 C) 07 TALLINN 488 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Eight years into the Government of 
Estonia's (GOE) integration policy, integration of the 
Russian-speaking community remains a challenge for the 
state, and for Estonian society at large.  However, 
unlike their parents, ethnic Russian youth have lived 
their whole lives in an independent Estonia and are 
largely a product of the GOE's formal integration 
efforts.  Our discussions with Russian-speaking students, 
their teachers and community leaders provide a snapshot 
of how they feel about being "Russians living in 
Estonia":  not entirely at home here or in Russia.  For 
many, integration is viewed as largely as a one-way 
street and there is still a wide cultural gap between 
ethnic Estonians and Russians.  Russian speaking youth 
are not, however, looking to Russia for their future. 
End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In recent months we have discussed integration 
issues with ethnic Russian and Estonian students and 
civic organizers in Tallinn, Narva, and the central 
Estonian town of Tapa.  Our anecdotal conversations 
demonstrated complex and mixed personal feelings among 
Russian speakers about the progress of integration 
efforts in Estonia.  Some representative statements we 
heard from the ethnic Russian students we spoke with 
include the following: 
 
-- Many do not feel truly accepted in either Estonia or 
Russia; 
-- Ethnic stereotypes persist on both sides, i.e.: 
"Estonians are dull and calm", "Russians are loud and 
stubborn"; 
-- Since the April 2007 Bronze Soldier riots, "Estonians 
do not trust anyone speaking Russian in public"; 
-- Estonians do not separate "Russian" from "Soviet"; 
-- New Estonian-language curriculum in Russian schools is 
either "unrealistic"... or an insufficient "quick fix"; 
-- Language requirements for Estonian citizenship are not 
onerous for the youth, but they are unfair for the older 
Russian generation; 
-- Few ethnic Russian youth here see their future in 
Russia.  While many have Estonian citizenship, they also 
dream of a future elsewhere in the EU. 
 
Russian, Estonian, or Neither? 
 
¶3. (SBU) Many of the Russian-speaking students we talked 
to insisted they do not judge others based on 
nationality, yet many sited differences in character 
between the two groups as an obstacle to integration. 
While it is commonplace for ethnic Russian and Estonia 
youth to work side-by-side in restaurants, stores and 
offices, leisure time is another story.  During the 
summer months, "99 percent of my time is Russian," said 
one.  Suspicions also abound.  Jelena Sotskaja, the 
ethnically Russian, tri-lingual Executive Director of the 
American Chamber of Commerce in Estonia (AmCham), told us 
she had heard that Estonian-language kindergartens will 
not allow more than two Russian-speaking students in a 
class because the Russian students are more outgoing and 
will influence the other children to speak in Russian. 
 
¶4. (U) Russian-speaking students who graduate from 
Estonian public high schools all receive the language 
certification required to enroll in Estonian 
universities.  Many of their parents, however, do not 
speak enough Estonian to obtain citizenship or hold a 
public service sector job.  The parents are often Russian 
citizens or "stateless" gray passport holders.  Estonia's 
remaining 110,000 gray passport holders can travel in the 
EU, work in Estonia, and vote in local - but not national 
or European - elections.  Many Russian students expressed 
frustration with the fact that their parents, who have 
lived and worked in Estonia 20-30 years or more and held 
local citizenship during Soviet times, must now learn 
Estonian in order to apply for citizenship.  Some 
complained that their parents had lost jobs and income as 
a result. 
 
¶5. (U) Many of the young ethnic Russians we spoke to said 
the April 2007 "Bronze Soldier" riots in Tallinn (Ref B) 
contributed to the sense of separation between ethnic 
 
TALLINN 00000406  002 OF 003 
 
 
Russians and Estonians.  Stanislav Tserepanov, head of 
one of Estonia's tiny ethnic-Russian political parties, 
believes the riots made what was once 'historical' 
tension between Russians and Estonians a "new, current 
issue" for youth.  While students we spoke to said they 
view themselves as Russian, they also noted they are not 
considered purely Russian in Russia.  Instead, they are 
something new: "Russians living in Estonia,- a concept 
which is not fully accepted in either country. 
 
Russians' Place in Estonia 
 
¶6. (SBU) Russian-speaking students and their teachers 
said they feel that Estonian society does not easily 
accept them.  AmCham's Sotskaja believes Estonians are 
focused on preserving their nation and identity. 
Tserepanov echoed this sentiment noting he believes 
Estonians have become engulfed in a new wave of 
nationalism that excludes Russian-speakers.  Developing a 
national pride that could unite Russians and Estonians 
would serve Estonia better, Tserepanov asserted.  Some 
older members of the Russian community we spoke with said 
they feel that Estonians often do not separate "Russian" 
from "Soviet," though many of the Russians now living in 
Estonia also suffered under the Soviet regime.  Younger 
students had a different view.  Even though none of them 
remember Soviet times, they expressed nostalgia for its 
"easier and calmer" lifestyle. 
 
¶7. (U) Language remains one of the most divisive issues. 
Students and other members of the ethnic Russian 
community complained that in Estonia "integration" has 
seemed more like "assimilation."  While none of our young 
interlocutors complained about having to learn Estonian 
language and culture, they expressed frustration that 
Estonians don't reciprocate Russian-speakers' efforts. 
(Note: In February, Estonian President Ilves said in an 
interview to the BBC that he does not study Russian 
because it would be "recognizing 50 years of Soviet 
occupation."  However, in November, Ilves visited 
schools, worksites and a church in ethnically-Russian 
Ida-Virumaa county and promised to return soon and 
address the public in the Russian language.  End Note.) 
Many students worried about their ability to preserve 
their mother tongue and national identity.  On this 
issue, however, students in Tallinn and Narva differed. 
Russian speakers in Tallinn insisted on the importance of 
preserving the Russian culture and community throughout 
Estonia.  Students in the border city of Narva (98 
percent ethnic Russian), expressed a belief that Estonia 
only needed to preserve Russian culture and language in 
areas where the majority of the population is Russian. 
 
¶8. (U) Some of the students we spoke with complained that 
the GOE's program to increase the number of subjects 
taught in Estonian at Russian-language high schools will 
not help significantly.  One asked, "How can a Russian 
learn physics in Estonian, if the subject is hard enough 
to understand in his first language?"  While their 
feelings were sincere, this is a much different view from 
the majority opinion expressed in a recent major survey 
of Russian-speaking students (Ref A).  Several students 
and one teacher we spoke with felt Estonian textbooks 
portray Russians negatively and cited this as the reason 
Russian students are hesitant to attend Estonian 
schools.  Jevgeni Krishtafovitsh, chairman of the youth 
integration organization Open Republic, and Vjateslav 
Konovalov, of Narva College, said that the recent 
establishment of Russian-language instruction at the new 
St. Catherine's College at Tallinn University is not a 
positive step.  The students would benefit more from 
being forced to speak Estonian, they said. (NOTE: St. 
Catherine's College instruction does lead to full 
instruction in Estonian.   END NOTE.) 
 
¶9. (U) The students we spoke with generally view the 
benefits of being 'stateless' as relatively equal to 
Estonian citizenship.  Most viewed Russian citizenship as 
the least preferable option.  However, they acknowledged 
that the Russian Federation's recent decision to allow 
visa-free travel for stateless Estonian residents will 
reduce the incentive to apply for Estonian citizenship 
(Estonian citizens must have a visa to travel to Russia). 
 
What the Future Holds 
 
¶10. (U) While all of the students identified themselves 
 
TALLINN 00000406  003 OF 003 
 
 
as culturally Russian, they did not profess sympathy with 
the Russian state.  None of the people we talked to said 
they see their future in Russia.  (NOTE: Overall, 
however, ethnic Russians in Estonia have supported Russia 
on international issues, including the invasion of 
Georgia in August. END NOTE.)  While some students noted 
they believe they will not have any difficulty finding 
employment as Russian-speakers in Europe, others were 
more skeptical about the future.  Krishtafovitsh and 
others insist Russian-speakers need to "invest in a 
future in Estonia" by learning the language and planning 
their future here.  However, a survey of 1500 people 
conducted by a local Russian-language newspaper in August 
found that almost all those in the 15-40 age range 
believe they have fewer chances at employment and other 
opportunities than ethnic Estonians of the same age. 
 
PHILLIPS