EU to open doors to Baltic "aliens"


dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday December 19, 2006

Tallinn- The Council of the European Union is set to permit
visa-free travel later this month to half a million "aliens" -
stateless persons living in Estonia and Latvia.
"It's great that we'll be able to travel in the EU at last, but
it's still only a half-measure: we won't be able to work there,"
Estonian non-citizen Maxim Reva told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Estonia and Latvia were occupied by the Soviet Union 1940-91.
During the occupation, hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens
flooded into their territory, materially altering the ethnic balance
in the two states.

When the duo declared the renewal of their independence in 1991,
they declared that those residents who had come there during the
occupation, and their descendants, could only become citizens if they
passed exams in the local language, history and culture.

Those unwilling to sit the exams were declared "resident aliens,"
holding no citizenship and needing a visa to travel anywhere outside
their homeland. Over 500,000 such non-citizens, mainly Russians,
still live in the Baltics - 80 per cent of them in Latvia.

But as of early next year, the EU is expected to bring in new
legislation allowing the non-citizens to travel visa-free throughout
its territory. The move has been broadly welcomed.

"It's a very logical decision by the EU, because if you live here,
you should be able to enjoy the fundamental right to the freedom of
movement, no matter what passport you hold," Latvia's Minister for
Social Integration, Oskars Kastens, said.

"It's great! I'll be the first out of the country when the new law
comes in," agreed Oksana, a 22-year-old student from Riga and a
Latvian non-citizen.

The new law could have unintended consequences, however. Many
"new" citizens admit that the main reason they naturalized was the
improved travel opportunities it would bring - leading some to
predict a fall in naturalization figures.

"Of course it will change (non-citizens') attitudes. There will be
a decrease in the number wanting to naturalize," Reva said.

And although the new law will not permit non-citizens to work in
the EU, some observers fear that it will nonetheless lead to a surge
in emigration from countries already complaining of a lack of workers
in key industries such as construction.

"Latvia has one of the highest percentages of people leaving the
country in the EU. One of the government's main tasks is to tackle
this issue," said Kastens, whose ministry has been assigned the task
of convincing emigres to return.

But other authorities doubt the new law will have much impact.

"Those (non-citizens) for whom travel was a burning issue have
naturalized already. Those who remain tend to be older people who are
becoming more passive," former Latvian integration minister Nils
Muiznieks said.

"Those young people who haven't naturalized are doing so out of
principle, so the change won't affect their choices," he added.

The law has already won approval from the European Parliament and
the EU's 25 justice ministries. It only needs the approval of a
formal session of the council to come into force - a move
provisionally scheduled for December 21.

But delays in translating the document into all the EU's languages
mean that it may be carried over into the new year, by which time
Bulgaria and Romania will have joined the union.

"The text has been agreed politically - now it's a question of
formalities. As soon as we have the translations, it can be approved,
and if it's not done by December 31, we'll just need two more
translations," council press officer Jesus Carmona said.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency