Estonian Human Development Report

Figure 4.3.1. Changes in the assessments of the
Soviet-era and current economic systems among
Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians 1993–2004
(percentage of positive assessments)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Estonian
former
Estonian
current
Latvian
former
Latvian
current
Source: Rose & Maley 1994; Rose 1997b, 2000, 2005b
Lithuanian
former
1993 1996 2000 2004
Lithuanian
current
Figure 4.3.2. Changes in the assessments of the
Soviet-era and current political regime among Estonians,
Latvians and Lithuanians 1993–2004 (percentage
of positive assessments)
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Estonian
former
Estonian
current
Latvian
former
Latvian
current
1993 1996 2000 2004
Source: Rose & Maley 1994; Rose 1997b, 2000, 2005b
Lithuanian
former
Lithuanian
current
The Soviet-era political system is given a lower rating
than the economic system in all three Baltic countries.
However, here too differences are apparent between the
attitudes of Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians. Estonians
(like Czechs) have attracted attention in all surveys
with significantly more positive assessments of the
new governmental organization (see Zapf et al. 2002;
Rose 2005a). The Latvians’ assessments of the former and
current regimes are more equivalent. In 1995–2001, the
Lithuanians even assessed the Communist regime more
positively, and only in 2004 did the current regime receive
a more positive assessment (Figure 4.3.2.).
Comparing the assessments of the Estonians, Latvians
and Lithuanians with the Russian-speaking minorities
in these countries regarding both economic changes
and the political regime, we see the persistence of significant
differences throughout the transition period (see
Table 4.3.1.).
While Estonians have very clearly shown their preference
for the new political order in all surveys since 1993,
the local Russians have rated both the Soviet-era economic
system and political regime more positively than the current
ones in all surveys (Figure 4.3.3.). However, the difference
in the assessments has been much smaller in Estonia
than in Latvia, where the differences in the assessments
of the Latvians and the local Russian-speaking population
have been the greatest. In Lithuania, on the other hand,
the assessments of the Lithuanians and non-Lithuanians
have been the most uniform. At the same time, one can
see that with the years the differences in the assessments
of the indigenous people and minorities have decreased in
all the Baltic countries and percentage of those rating the
new political system more positively than the former system
has also increased among the Russian-speaking population
(see Rose 1997a, 2002, 2005; Ehin 2007).
From the middle of the 1990s until the spring of 2007,
Estonian society gradually equalized its attitudes. “Both
Estonians and the members of other ethnicities assessed
many of the phenomena of Estonian life uniformly. The
socio-political and economic background of non-Estonians
was predominantly positive.” (Saar 2007: 47).
Andrus Saar’s conclusion regarding the equalization
of assessments among Estonians and non-Estonians generally
confirms the results of the Mina. Maailm. Meedia
survey organized by the University of Tartu Institute of
Journalism and Communication at the end of 2002 and
2005. Although significant differences appeared in orientations
as well as specific attitudes in both 2002 and 2005
(see Kalmus, Lauristin & Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt 2004;
Lauristin 2007; Vihalemm & Kalmus 2008), we noticed
some convergence in the assessments of Estonians and
non-Estonians regarding changes: in 2005, among both
Estonian and Russian-speaking respondents there were
many more people who were pleased rather than saddened
by the changes in society. We see a totally different
trend in the results from the survey conducted in September–October
2008, where the number of Russian speakers
who were happy about the social changes was smaller and
the number of those saddened was larger than in 2005 and
2002 (Figure 4.3.1. and Table 4.3.2.).
Our survey results confirm the conclusion that has
been repeatedly brought forth by research results and
actual observation – the events of April 2007 have returned
Estonia to the situation where the Estonian-speaking and
Russian-speaking collective bodies are very different. This
contrast was very apparent in the answers to the questions
posed in the course of the Integration monitoring
survey conducted in April 2008 regarding assessments of
the changes in Estonia during the last three years (Table
4.3.2.). However, the comparison of age groups demonstrates
that despite the protest-mindedness that has manifested
itself among young people, Russian-speaking young
people in the majority are more at home in Estonian society,
and in a similar manner to Estonians, are predominantly
positive about what is happening in the country.
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