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Estonia

Month 14 | October 2024

Estonia Monthly: Controversy Over Voting Rights Sparks Accusations of Russophobia

A heated debate emerged in Estonia over proposed changes to voting rights for non-citizens, particularly affecting Russians living in the country. Articles and social media posts fueled claims that the Estonian government was intentionally making life harder for Russian residents.

by Olevs Nikers
Voting

Key insights:

  • Social media agents often targeted outside of Estonia as well, focusing on relations with Canada, the USA, and how the European Union will ‘die’ if they do not try to compete with the USA and Canada.
  • Continued claims of Ukraine being a neo-Nazi regime who are committing terrorist acts in the Donbas.
  • The Estonian government is making things harder for Russian speakers by not requiring officials to speak Russian.
  • The government is not working to correct the economical issues in Estonia, and the continuous rise in taxes is only hurting the people and the economy.
  • Official sites claim that Estonia is now calling for the genocide of Russian people in Estonia.
  • Politicians are russophobic for ‘removing’ Russian non-citizens’ right to vote in Estonian elections.
  • Green energy is destructive and is hurting the environment more than helping it.

Story of the Month:

Voting rights of non-citizens in Estonia

In the reporting month, one of the most targeted areas was the voting rights of non-citizens in Estonia.  There were articles like the one posted above at:  https://www.err.ee/1609502368/sotside-poore-valima-vaid-need-vene-kodanikud-kes-moistavad-soja-hukka as well as many social media posts by popular social media agents in Estonia such as Alexander Chapligin and Yanna Toom, who reacted to this article for example: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=3730977693785744&set=a.1598016323748569 and this post: 

This news was spread with claims that this was russophobic, and that the politicians were doing everything that they could to make things difficult for the Russians living in Estonia by removing everything written in Russian. There were also claims that this had been planned for a long time, but hidden by the politicians in order to sway votes in the direction that they wanted.


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