Under the constitution adopted on June 28, 1992, Estonia has a
parliamentary system of government, with a prime minister as chief
executive. Parliament also elects a president, whose duties are largely
ceremonial, although the first holder of this office, Lennart Meri,
sought to assert his independence. The constitution also governs the
work of a legal chancellor, an auditor general, and the National Court.
The constitution opens with a set of general provisions and a
forty-eight-article section establishing the fundamental rights,
liberties, and duties of citizens. Freedom of expression and assembly,
freedom of information, the right to petition the courts, and the right
to health care are all guaranteed. Censorship and discrimination on the
basis of nationality, gender, religion, or political belief are
forbidden. The official language of Estonia is Estonian. However, in
deference to heavily Russian areas of northeastern Estonia, the
constitution allows for the use of other languages in local government
where the majority of the population is non-Estonian. Article 9 of the
constitution guarantees equal constitutional rights to both citizens and
noncitizens living in Estonia. Noncitizen permanent residents are also
allowed to vote in local elections. Noncitizens may not, however, join
political parties or hold elected office.
The Riigikogu (State Assembly), which replaced the transitional
Supreme Council in 1992, has 101 members, who are chosen every four
years by popular election. Members must be at least twenty-one years
old. Each member may belong to only one committee. The president of the
republic is elected to a five-year term by a two-thirds majority of the
Riigikogu. The president nominates the prime minister, who must receive
a vote of confidence from the Riigikogu. The Riigikogu passes
legislation as well as votes of no confidence in the government. The
president can dissolve parliament if there is a prolonged delay in the
nomination of a prime minister or in the adoption of a state budget, or
after a vote of no confidence in the government.
The president promulgates all laws after their adoption by the
Riigikogu. However, he or she may also refuse to promulgate (i.e., veto)
a law and send it back to the Riigikogu for reconsideration. If the
Riigikogu passes the same law again by a simple majority, the
president's veto is overridden. In 1993 President Meri vetoed seven
laws, most of which were later modified by the Riigikogu. An early
string of vetoes in the spring of 1993 especially angered members of the
government coalition in parliament who had helped to elect him. Meri
declared it his obligation, however, to protect the balance of power in
government. His involvement was particularly critical during the
domestic and international crisis surrounding Estonia's Law on Aliens.
The legal chancellor is appointed by the Riigikogu to a seven-year
term and provides guidance concerning the constitutionality of laws.
This official has no powers of adjudication but can issue opinions and
propose amendments. Both the legal chancellor and the president may
appeal to a special committee of the National Court for a binding
decision on any law, national or local, that they consider
unconstitutional. The court system comprises rural and city, as well as
administrative, courts (first-level); district courts (second-level);
and the National Court, the highest court in the land. Criminal justice
is administered by local first-level courts as well as by second-level
appellate courts. Final appeal may be made to the National Court, which
sits in Tartu.
Central government policy at the regional level is carried out by the
administrations of Estonia's fifteen counties (maakonnad ).
These counties are further subdivided into 255 local administrative
units, of which forty-two are towns and 213 are townships (vald
). Local councils are elected for a three-year term by permanent
residents of the towns and townships.
Estonia - Mass Media
The mass media in Estonia played a catalytic role in the democratic
upsurge of the late 1980s that led to independence. Responding during
1985-86 to Mikhail S. Gorbachev's call for glasnost (openness),
the Estonian media, especially newspapers, began to focus on the many
social and economic problems afflicting the country at the time. Yet,
the blame for these social and economic ailments soon began to fall on
the political system, an outcome that Gorbachev had not intended. For
instance, the fight against an extensive and environmentally dangerous
plan to mine phosphorus in northeastern Estonia was energized in 1987 by
several articles in the monthly Eesti Loodus . The Tartu daily Edasi
(later renamed Postimees ) would become a lively forum for the
discussion of economic reforms such as Estonia's economic autonomy plan,
the IME plan. The daily newspaper of Estonia's Komsomol, Noorte H��l
, took the lead in exposing the abuse many young Estonian men were
suffering in the Soviet army. Many Estonian cultural publications, such
as the weekly newspaper Sirp ja Vasar and the monthly journals Looming
and Vikerkaar , carried historical overviews of Estonia's
annexation in 1940 and of the deportations that followed. Finally, on
television and radio, several roundtable debate programs were aired,
where more ideas were articulated. As political mobilization grew, the
mass media became interactive players, reporting on the new events while
giving further voice to varied opinions.
The Estonian-language media operated in sharp contrast to Estonia's
two main Russian-language dailies, Sovetskaya Estoniya (later
renamed Estoniya ) and Molodezh' Estonii , whose
editors took a defensive stance toward rising Estonian nationalist
feeling. The Russian community in Estonia was more heavily influenced by
local communist party leaders, who remained loyal to Soviet rule. The
Russian-language newspapers also echoed some of the views of the
Intermovement and other Soviet loyalist groups. In the aftermath of
independence, both newspapers were left searching for a new identity, as
was most of the Russian community now living as a minority cut off from
Russia.
In the early 1990s, the Estonian media diversified greatly as
competition among newspapers grew. The flashy weekly Eesti Ekspress
, run by a Finnish-Estonian joint venture, captured much of the early
market, but it was soon joined by other rivals. Business-oriented
publications emerged, such as �rip�ev, a joint venture with
Sweden's Dagens Industri . In 1992 a new daily, Hommikuleht
, was launched by a group of private investors. Estonia was also the
base for the Baltics' largest circulating English-language newspaper, Baltic
Independent . Still, the growth in the number of newspapers could
not compensate for a rise in subscription rates and a decline in overall
readership. Print runs fell from nearly 200,000 in 1990, when newsstand
copies cost the equivalent of US$0.05, to an average of 40,000 in 1993.
Still, in 1993 there were approximately 750 serial publications in
Estonia, three times the number in 1987.
Television and radio changed as well. During 1992-93 three commercial
radio stations went on the air. Each offered a mix of rock music, news,
and features. State-owned Estonian Radio spun off one of its two
stations to compete with the new formats. Several regional radio
stations also began broadcasting. Estonian state television received
competition in the fall of 1993 when the government gave rights to three
companies to start broadcasting on two channels previously used by
Russian television. Earlier, the government had decided to stop paying
for the rebroadcast of the Moscow and St. Petersburg channels in
Estonia.
Estonia - Foreign Relations
Both before and after independence, Estonia's foreign policy had a
strong Western orientation. Western recognition of Estonia's legal
independence was a key source of strength for the republic in its
struggle with the Soviet Union. After 1991 Estonia worked to maintain
that relationship and integrate with European political institutions as
a further safeguard against potential threats from Russia. The last
Russian troops stationed in Estonia after 1991 finally were withdrawn in
August 1994, but relations with Yeltsin's Kremlin remained cool. Growing
instability in Russia and Western attempts to placate Russian
nationalism left Estonia anxious for greater European security
guarantees but wary of being squeezed again in great-power politics.
Relations with the West
During 1990-91 Estonia undertook a vigorous lobbying campaign on
behalf of international support for its bid for independence from the
Soviet Union. The Estonian foreign minister at the time, Lennart Meri,
was one of several Estonian officials who traveled widely to sustain the
Western commitment to the republic's independence. Although the West
generally remained in favor of renewed statehood for Estonia and the
other Baltic states, Western leaders believed that the real key to that
independence lay in Moscow. In August 1991, release of that key came in
the form of the attempted coup d'�tat by conservative elements of the
Soviet government.
In the wake of independence, Estonia moved quickly to join the
international community. In September it was admitted to both the United
Nations (UN) and the CSCE. In the UN, Estonia would later find common
ground with the East European countries as well as participate in the
organization's various committees and auxiliary bodies, such as the
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In March 1992, Estonia took part
in the creation of the Council of Baltic Sea States, an association of
all the countries bordering the Baltic Sea and dedicated to furthering
regional economic and political cooperation. A year later, the Estonian
representative was elected to a one-year term as president of the
organization. In the realm of security, Estonia joined the North
Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) in late 1991 and actively sought
support for its efforts to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO). Cooperation with the European Union included
significant economic aid as well as talks on a free-trade agreement.
Estonia's greatest foreign policy success came in May 1993 with its
admission to the Council of Europe. After applying in September 1991,
Estonia had to hold its first free parliamentary elections in 1992
before being seriously considered for membership. Although Estonia's
citizenship policy came under close scrutiny by council delegations, in
the end they accepted Estonia's legal arguments for denying automatic
citizenship to Soviet-era immigrants, taking encouragement from the
noncitizens' right to participate in local elections. Estonia considered
admission the equivalent of a clean bill of health for its young
democracy, which Russia had sought to tarnish with accusations of human
rights violations.
In the mid-1990s, Estonia's staunchest foreign allies were the
Scandinavian countries, particularly Denmark and Sweden. In 1990 the
three Baltic states established regular contacts with the Nordic
Council, the main political organization uniting the five Scandinavian
states. Denmark's prime minister, Poul Schl�ter, became in 1991 the
first Western head of government to visit Estonia. The Swedish prime
minister, Carl Bildt, became an outspoken defender of Estonia after
Russian threats to impose economic sanctions on Tallinn heightened
tensions in 1993.
In some respects, the development of Scandinavian ties appeared to be
a higher priority for Estonia than the fostering of greater Baltic
cooperation, begun during the three republics' common struggle for
independence. Baltic leaders held regular summit meetings beginning in
1990 and issued numerous joint declarations concerning their relations
with Russia. An interparliamentary Baltic Council was established in
1990 to promote further cooperation at semiannual meetings. In mid-1993
Baltic military commanders even met to discuss plans for a joint
infantry battalion that would be offered for peacekeeping missions
around the world. Yet, progress on a free-trade agreement among the
three countries was slow, and this situation was not helped in 1992 when
Estonia elected a center-right government while Lithuania voted back in
Algirdas Brazauskas and the former communists. Ultimately, a free-trade
agreement was signed in April 1994.
Estonia's relations with the United States were strong, although the
George H.W. Bush administration's initial delay in establishing
diplomatic ties with the republic disappointed many in Tallinn. The
United States held off recognition for several days in deference to
Mikhail S. Gorbachev. However, Secretary of State James A. Baker visited
all three Baltic states in September 1991 and five months later was
followed by Vice President J. Danforth Quayle. Relations with the
William J. Clinton administration appeared solid, although some Estonian
officials expressed concern about what they perceived as its unqualified
support for Russian president Boris N. Yeltsin.
Estonia - Relations with Russia
Estonia's ties with Boris N. Yeltsin had weakened since the Russian
leader's show of solidarity with the Baltic states in January 1991.
Issues surrounding Russian troop withdrawals from the Baltic republics
and Estonia's denial of automatic citizenship to noncitizens ranked high
on the list of points of contention. Immediately after independence,
Estonia began pressing the Soviet Union, and later Russia, for a speedy
withdrawal of Soviet troops from its territory. Estonia insisted that
the process be completed by the end of the year. The Soviet government,
citing a lack of available housing for its troops, said not before 1994.
In January 1992, some 25,000 troops were reported left in Estonia, the
smallest contingent in the Baltic states. Still, more than 80,000
hectares of land, including an inland artillery range, remained in the
Russian military's hands. More than 150 battle tanks, 300 armored
vehicles, and 163 battle aircraft also remained. The last troops did not
leave until August 1994.
In the fall of 1991, as Estonia laid down its new citizenship policy,
the Soviet Union called the move a violation of human rights. Under the
citizenship policy, most of the country's large ethnic Russian minority
were declared noncitizens. The Soviet government linked the further
withdrawal of troops from Estonia to a satisfactory change in Estonia's
citizenship stance. In response, Estonia denied the human rights charges
and invited more than a dozen international fact-finding groups to visit
the country for verification. As the propaganda war and negotiations
dragged on, Estonia and the other two Baltic countries gained
international support for their position on troop withdrawal at a July
1992 summit of the CSCE in Helsinki. The final communiqu� called on
Russia to act "without delay . . . for the early, orderly and
complete withdrawal" of foreign troops from the Baltic states.
Resolutions also were passed in the United States Senate in 1992 and
1993 linking the issue of troop withdrawals to continued United States
aid to Russia.
Yet, Estonian and Russian negotiators remained deadlocked throughout
1993. At several points, President Yeltsin and other Russian officials
called an official halt to the pullout, but the unofficial withdrawal of
forces continued. By the end of 1992, about 16,000 troops remained. A
year later, that number was down to fewer than 3,500, and more than half
of the army outposts had been turned over to Estonian defense officials.
The Estonian and Russian sides continued to disagree, primarily over the
pace of Russia's withdrawal from the town of Paldiski, on the northern
coast some thirty-five kilometers west of Tallinn. The Soviet navy had
built a submarine base there that included two nuclear submarine
training reactors. Russian officials maintained that dismantling the
reactor facility would take time; Estonia demanded faster action along
with international supervision of the process. The last Russian warship,
carrying ten T-72 tanks, departed in August 1994. However, Russia was to
retain control of the reactor facility in Paldiski until September 1995.
Territorial issues also clouded Estonian-Russian relations. Estonia
continued to stick by its demand for the return of more than 2,000
square kilometers of territory annexed to Russia by Stalin in 1945. The
annexed land was within the borders Estonia and Russia had originally
agreed to as part of the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty. However, the Yeltsin
government disavowed any responsibility for acts committed by the Soviet
regime.
