In a couple of years, a dozen or so Russians living in Estonia have lost their residence permits due to the spread of Kremlin propaganda.
TALLINN The Estonian protection police kapo has clearly tightened his attitude towards pro-Russian activism.
Since the start of the war of aggression against Russia, eleven Russians who lived in Estonia have lost their residence permits. Some of them have been deported across the eastern border, some managed to leave the country before the official deportation.
The Estonian Protection Police considers the deportees a security threat related to Russia’s hybrid measures against Estonia.
– The unifying factor has been very active participation in influencing Russia. For example, spreading hostile historical narratives or supporting Russia’s aggressive foreign policy, kapo department head Harrys Carpenter tells.
According to Kapo, those who remained without a residence permit and were deported have been organizing various pro-Russian events and have attracted others to become organizers as well.
– When we see similar activities in our own country that preceded Russia’s attack on Ukraine, it is clear that it is our duty to intervene, Puusepp says.
The yearbooks of the Estonian Security Police have warned for a long time that Russia is trying to cause tension and disunity in Estonian society. After the Soviet era, more than 300,000 Russian speakers live in the country. About 80,000 of them are Russian citizens and 60,000 are without citizenship of any country.
Celebrating Russian Victory Day in Soviet-era uniforms or waving Soviet and Russian flags on the streets of Estonian cities before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine might have attracted the attention of the security police, but not deportation.
After the start of the war of aggression, the line changed. Among other things, symbols supporting the war of aggression, i.e. Russian flags, black and orange Georgian ribbons and the letters Z used by supporters of the war of aggression were banned.
The police’s strict line has been seen in recent years also at public events. Expressions of opinion in favor of Russia or war of aggression are not allowed.
– Previously, we tried to contain the situation with less drastic measures. As the threat assessment changed, we also became more determined, says Harrys Puusepp.
The Estonian Protection Police has also informed about the deportations in an impressive way, for example on their social media. Among the deportees are both Russian citizens and stateless Russians.
The criticized meppi started to defend the expelled
Harrys Puusepp admits that the expulsions have mostly been evaluation decisions. Those who lost their residence permit have therefore not been found guilty of an actual crime and have not been convicted in court.
– Our task is to anticipate and prevent. For these persons, we have assessed that such a step is necessary and the courts have agreed with us, says Puusepp.
In a rule of law, decisions can be appealed, but so far all appeals that have been processed to the end have been rejected.
However, the legal proceedings of the case that received the most attention are still ongoing. He is 64 years old Zoja Paljamar, whose residence permit the Estonian Police and Border Agency canceled based on the assessment of the protection police in June 2023.
The stateless Paljamar himself was in Russia at the time, so the revocation of his residence permit prevented his return to Estonia. In addition, he was banned from entering the Schengen area for ten years.
An Estonian man of Russian background also stood up to fight for Paljamar Jana Toom. According to Toomi, a stateless person deportation is illegaland Paljamar is according to him chronically ill woman.
Last summer, Toom visited Russia and met Zoja Paljamari. In addition, he has paid her court costs.
Jana Toomi’s actions have attracted criticism among Estonian politicians. Among the critics has been, among others, the Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets.