U.S. Welcomes the Estonian Government Decision

The U.S. welcomes the decision of the Estonian government to submit legislation to Parliament which grants Estonian citizenship to children born in Estonia of stateless parents. The Cabinet approved the bill on December 9, 1997, and it should be submitted to Parliament shortly. We anticipate a Parliamentary vote on the bill in the spring of 1998. The decision by the Estonian government to submit this bill also means that Estonia has now acted on all 30 recommendations made by OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities, Max van der Stoel, in 1994. Estonia is the first country in Europe to move forward on a full set of proposals and recommendations by the High Commissioner. The United States considers passage of this bill to be another and particularly significant step by the Estonian government to lay the legislative and social groundwork for integrating the substantial non-ethnic Estonian community now living in Estonia. The United States applauds the determined effort by Estonian society to deal constructively with the complicated question of integrating the country's ethnic minorities.