NID: USSR: ESTONIAN NATIONALISM ON THE RISE

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe: A 30-Year Legacy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06826866
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2019
• Publication Date: February 1, 1990

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826866
USSR: Estonian Nationalism on the Rise
A surge in public support in Estonia for political groups favoring
aggre.ssive pursuit of independence suggests that, after the republic
election next month, the Estonian legislature will be pressed to advance a
nationalist agenda as forcefully as the Lithuanians have.
a substantial increase recently in public
support for radical nationalist groups, including the Estonian
National Independence Party and the Estonian Heritage Society.
So-called citizens' committees formed by those groups have
reportedly registered more than 500,000 Estonians, who this month
will elect delegates to an extragovernmental congress, scheduled for
March, to discuss the future of the republic.
the
Estonan Communist Party is near collapse.
Soviet
the umbrella Estonian Popular Front�which has favored a gradu.il push for independence, working through existing
institutions�is losing its popularity and influence.
Tomorrow, the 70th anniversary of Bolshevik recognition of Estonian
indepmdence, the Front and the Communist Party are sponsoring a
meeting of the republic's elected representatives that reportedly will
serve to open the process of restoring Estonian sovereignty
Comment: By calling tomorrow's meeting, the Communists and the
Front hope to stem the erosion of their public support. The party has
probably been doomed, however, by its reluctance to follow the
Lithuanian party in splitting with Moscow and to embrace a
nationalist agenda fully. Although Front candidates will probably
capttn.e most of the 105 seats in next month's election, the public
mandate enjoyed by the citizens' committees will give them powerful
leveragein pushing the new Estonian Supreme Soviet to hold an early
referendum on the issue of independence and to seek negotiations
with Moscow over the terms for secession.
pt
TCS 2726/90
Fcbruary 1990
Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826866