Transformation Processes in Estonia (ePub)

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Eastern Europe, grade: 1,0, University of Pavia, course: Transformation Processes in Eastern Europe, 16 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This paper will try to deal with the transformation processes that took place in Estonia short before and after the breakdown of the Soviet Union (SU). For the European Union (EU), illustrated in their last three reports towards accession (1999,2000,2001), Estonia is the Darling of the three Baltic States (Panagiotou,2001: 262), although it is by inhabitants and extent the smallest of them. And even under all the 12 states applying for EU Membership it is in the first row. The way how this fast and obviously successful development happened will be the main focus of this work. What have been the conditions that helped Estonia to be called a “baltic tiger state”? A state with economy growing wide above European average and stable democratic system (EU report towards accession, 2001, 13) .
To answer these questions the first part will give a historically overview of the Estonian finally successful independence movement starting with the short period of independence during the two world wars, the foundation of the new democratic institution and parties and it’s following integration in the western political world, followed by its application for a full EU membership.
The second part puts his focus on the problem, by many authors ( Smith,D, 2001; Evans,1998; Smith,G e alt. , 1996) considered as the most serious of the young Estonian democracy: the great Russian minority within its borders. To solve this problem is up to today one of the main tasks Estonians politicians are facing. Why didn’t the Estonian republic come in serious trouble like other post communist countries with great minorities, for example Yugoslavia or the Czechoslovakia? Despite there is a strong polarization along ethnic lines (Evans,1998: 71) there has never been some violent or separating movement within the Estonian society, which seems surprisingly by a proportion of 30% of Russian within the Estonian population. Even an interesting point that will be discussed is the impact which this had and has on the democratic form of the Estonian state. The paper will close with the conclusion, in which a appraisal of the discussed issues will be tried.