Estonian Russians: The Success Story of Integration

Abstract

As was the case with many other post-Soviet states, including those in the Baltics, Estonia became a place for considerable numbers of ethnic Russians/Russianspeaking minorities. The relationship between Estonians and minorities was quite tense in the beginning of the post-Soviet era. Still, as time progressed, native Estonians, the Estonian government, and Russian Estonians all tried to accommodate each other. Economic, political, and geopolitical reasons and, most of all, understanding the importance of the accommodation of the Russian-speaking population by Estonian society, contributed to the slow progress in the accommodation of the two segments of the Estonian nation. And here, Estonia is clearly ahead of other Baltic nations, such as Latvia. Keywords: Estonia, Russian Estonian, minorities in the Baltic countries, Russia in the former Soviet Union