Minority Rights, Multiculturalism and EU Enlargement: the Case of Estonia

Abstract

This article examines the process of EU enlargement and its impact upon ethnopolitics in contemporary Estonia. After discussing the construction of the post-communist state order within the context of emerging CSCE and Council of Europe norms on minority rights, the author looks at how Estonia was able to reconcile its so-called 'ethnic democracy' with the EU Copenhagen criteria requiring the 'respect for and protection of minorities'. The author draws attention to the subsequent shift away from 'nationlizing statehood' in Estonia towards a new strategy of 'multicultural integration' (where 'multicultural democracy' is portrayed as the ideal end-point of the integrative processes currently underway). In conclusion, the author discusses some of the ambiguities surrounding the concept of 'multicultural integration'. Whilst deemed consistent with EU norms, it is argued that the meaning of this term remains vague and contested within an Estonian context. As a consequence, its relationship to existing Western models - and its applicability to post-Soviet Estonia - is still not entirely clear.

Keywords

• Estonia
• minority rights
• EU enlargement
• ethnic democracy
• Western models