Minorities a priority for Estonia

TALLINN 's The Estonian government has stated that protection of ethnicminorities is a priority. Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, at a meeting with theOrganization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) HighCommissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek said they have adopted twonew integration programs for 2009.

Also the number of stateless residents has been constantly declining inEstonia, Ansip told OSCE.

"Even though the pace of naturalization has slowed down, the state haskept searching for possibilities to speed it up,"said Ansip.

Informing residents about possibilities to apply for citizenship has become aprimary focus, especially for children and young people.

Special attention is being paid to reducing the nuber of stateless children,said Ansip.

Starting from February 2007 the state informs parents of children withundefined citizenship upon the registration of birth, that they have thepossibility to seek Estonian citizenship for their child under simplifiedprocedures.

The prime minister said that applying for citizenship was a very importantdecision for the sake of which the person himself had display certain activity.