The Estonian National Independence Party (ENIP) was founded on August 20, 1988, by former political prisoners, human rights activists, representatives of independent youth groups and intellectuals, at a risky time, when the political power in occupied Estonia was still monopolized by the communists.

Introduction

The Estonian Rural Center Party (ERCP) was established on April 7, 1990. It is participating in the international network of centrist parties and political movements (INC).

The Estonian Rural Union (Eesti Maaliit, EML) was created during the national independence struggle in 1917. The EML shared power in Estonia's inter-war independence period and was left in a state of oblivion during the occupation years. The party was revived first as a popular movement in 1989 and two years later as a political party.

The most important issue in today's Estonia is undoubtedly everyday security in the streets and at home. As there has been an explosive growth in crime and particularly serious crime, the police often lack the resources (both time and people) to tackle petty crime which affects the man on the street most directly. Most of the serious crimes are connected with the settling of accounts among criminal gangs which can affect ordinary citizens too, since they are often accidentally caught up in such conflicts. Organized crime is directed at making new successful businessmen pay “taxes,” which in future can slow down economic activity, although this is not happening yet. Currently, part of the “successful” criminal structures try to secure positions in legal economic structures (by money laundering), and there are clear indications that at least some of them have succeeded. The main roots of organized crime are in the former Soviet Union, and insufficient border control contributes to its penetration into Estonia. The criminal gangs of the former Soviet Union are not just a problem for Estonia or the Baltics but also for the police in Central and Western Europe. Besides, the spread of organized crime may rest on structures created on the instructions and financing of the KGB, and that in certain situations these structures may serve political orders.

In the twentieth century, and particularly under the influence of the Second World War, the international community, in the interests of normal relations, has considered it necessary to agree on certain fundamental principles, such as the observance of universal human rights, the right of nations to self-determination, the equality of the rights of big and small nations, impermissibility of aggression, and liberation from the yoke of colonialism. These principles are written in international conventions, the UN charter and several of its resolutions, and recognized by the majority of states.

In May 1992 an international conference examining the fate of minorities in the former Soviet Union was organized jointly by the Kennan Institute (DC) and Michigan State University. Fourteen speakers were invited from Moscow, St. Petersburgh, the north Caucasus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Moldova, and Lithuania; among them was Dr Ramazan Abdulatipov, Chairman of the Chamber of Nationalities of the Russian Parliament. The immediate impetus for the conference was a national survey of 6,500 Russians in 16 non-Russian regions of the former Soviet Union. The survey was conducted in August and September of 1991 by the Center of Public Opinion Studies in Moscow on the basis of a program prepared by Vladimir Shlapentokh and Lev Gudkov.

In their election program ISAMAA stated:

“The time is ripe for change.

“Estonia is an independent state again. The independence we waited and yearned for for such a long time has not brought with it satisfaction. The leftist and vague policy of the nomenclatura that still hangs on to power is impeding Estonia's evolution towards democracy and a market economy.

The processes which are presently occurring in Estonia are part of a world-wide process of the disintegration of totalitarian ideological societies. It is extremely important to be aware of the fact that this does not concern simply the change of political status, that it, not only regaining the republic's independence, but it means the end of the society in which all of us, both Russians and Estonians of the present generation, have grown up and in which we have become accustomed to live. Now we have to live in a different kind of society which does not exist yet and which we have to construct together.

The Organization (Conference) on Security and Co-operation in Europe has just held a meeting in Budapest which was widely touted as a flop for its failure to achieve agreement on Bosnia. Its only reported action was to change its own name to “Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.” But, tucked away in the small print of the final document (paragraphs 25-6), is a resolution to appoint within the Office for Development of International Human Rights (OCJIHR) “a contact point for Roma and Sinti (Gypsy) issues.” This will act as a clearing-house for information, facilitate contacts between state and international and non-governmental organizations, working closely with Gypsy organizations. What this will mean in practice is not yet clear; but those who have pushed for this development have a clear agenda.

The Congress considers it necessary to inform you that, according to the opinion of its participants, the laws on education and culture adopted in 1993 by the State Assembly of the Republic of Estonia do not correspond to the interests of the Russian language population of Estonia. We cannot accept the situation where, by legal means, our children are left without the possibility of getting secondary education in their mother tongue in state subsidized high schools. We regard them as a violation of one of the most fundamental principles of the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights. Possibilities of getting higher education in Russian in the institutions of higher education of the Republic of Estonia are also being cut to a minimum. We should remember that, even during the most gloomy years of the Stalinist totalitarian regime, Estonian youth could and did get elementary and secondary as well as higher education in Estonian, their native language. Why then in a democratic Estonia is the Russian language population legally deprived of the right to secondary education in their mother tongue?