Kõne kodakonduse jagamise teemadel ENPAs/ Statelesness problems speech at ECPA

Kõne Euroopa Nõukogu parlamentaarsel assambleel Euroopa Rahvapartei grupi nimel kodakondsuse jagamist puudutava raporti kohta, kus kõikidest Euroopa Nõukogu liikmesriikidest tuuakse kodakondsuspoliitika vigasuse poolest esile miskipärast sellist huvitavat nelikut nagu Eesti, Läti, Ukraina ja Venemaa. Vigaderohke raport on inimlikult väga olulise teema demagoogiliste võtetega osaliselt täiesti pea peale pööranud ja sellele osundamisele mu kõne ka tugineb. Raporti koostajaks, üllatus! - Läti üsna venemeelse partei Boriss Cilevics, juhtumisi on tema raport ka ta peamiselt Läti venekeelsele valijale suunatud valimispropaganda osaks Europarlamendi valimistel (vrdl Stalnuhhin).

Thank You!

The question of guaranteeing human rights to refugees and giving a fair legal procedure to stateless people to apply for citizenship in the countries of the Council of Europa is a very important question. Besides guaranteeing civil rights, it should be a question of stabilizing the internal and external security.

Nowadays we can clearly see that citizenship and statelessness issues have become a new kind of weapon between states of neo-imperial aspirations. We have seen what the delivering of Russian passports in Transnistria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Crimea has brought to in recent years. The so-called “passportisation” has been used and misused as a casus belli, as reason for invasion. We are NOT talking about refugees in these cases. We are talking about “fabricated” citizens who have little or no connection to Russia other than visa facilitation and economic benefits, who are expected to serve as the 5^th column and weapons of destabilisation when needed be. I’m disappointed that, despite at least two motions tabled in recent past, the Assembly has not taken up the issue of “passportisation” in order to give for once and for all a legal opinion on the matter. I sincerely hope that the Bureau of the Assembly would not turn down that important issue should a new motion for a resolution be drafted.

Secondly, mentioning just some countries in this report is absolutely unjustified and even dangerous, especially in the light of the current tensions that we have been discussing all afternoon.  UNHCR, referred to in this report as a source, has stressed that only a minority of countries have procedures in place for identification, registration and documentation of stateless people, and Estonia and Latvia are among them. For example, the number of people with undetermined citizenship has considerably decreased in Estonia, from 32 % in 1992 to 6,5% in 2014, and among younger generation it is just marginal. All persons of undetermined citizenship have travel documents, resident permits, all rights to equal treatment and access to social services and education, as well as the right to vote at local elections. Children born in Estonia get citizenship, if their parents are not against it.

But you also have to be aware that many so-called non-citizens DO NOT WANT to obtain any citizenship because they actually benefit from this dubious situation. All residents in Estonia with undetermined citizenship can travel visa-free both to EU and Russia, whereas people with Estonian citizenship have to go through a difficult ordeal to obtain a Russian visa. Their sons do not have to do a military service either in Estonia or Russia… These are the details that matter for these people, we cannot force citizenship upon those people. Giving citizenship automatically to grown up people, as said, is not the solution for stabilizing Europe.