The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said on November 23 that it has fulfilled its mission in Estonia and now wants to close its doors after an eight-year presence here.

The move was seen by many Estonians as final confirmation of its pro-West, democratic credentials. Concerns raised in Russia about Estonia's Russian minority led to an OCSE office being set up two years after the Soviet occupation ended in 1991--though some Estonians grumbled the OSCE presence was politically motivated, unnecessary and an affront. But Tallinn-based officials of the leading human rights oversight group said a language requirement for candidates running for elected office had been its last major bone of contention. Estonia's parliament canceled that provision a day before, on November 21. Harri Tiido, deputy undersecretary at Estonia's Foreign Ministry, welcomed the OSCE moves to close its office, adding that "we've done all we've been asked to do and there is nothing else the OSCE has asked—so their mandate's fulfilled" Russia expressed particular anger at Estonian language laws—which it argued disenfranchise Russian-speakers, mostly ethnic Russians who moved here during the Soviet occupation and now make up 40 percent of the 1.4 million population. The issue soured bilateral relations. Estonia said its language laws met international norms and were meant to counteract five decades of repressive Soviet policies which often favored Russian over native Estonian, a vowel-laden language closely related to Finnish and spoken by barely one million people. But over the years Estonia soften the laws, culminating in the cancellation of the rule that those running for office be able to speak Estonian. Critics said it discriminated against Russian speakers—most of whom speak little or no Estonian.