CITIZENS COMMITTEE RESPONSE TO CRTICISIM FROM THE SUPREME SOVIET The decision to register citizens of the Republic of Estonia

gained more momentum than expected. Estonian Communist Party leaders attacked the concept, feeling it too radical and too provocative for Moscow. But the success of the registration movement was undeniable. Below is the Citizens Committee response to criticism from the Estonian S.S.R. Supreme Soviet. Declaration of the Provisional Liaison Committee of the Estonian Citizens' Committees During the XII. session of the XI. Supreme Soviet of the Estonian S.S.R. on July 24, 1989, people's deputy P. Panfilov called for the condemnation of "the creation of Estonian Citizens' Committees by the Estonian National Independence Party, the Estonian Rural Union and the extremist wing of the Heritage Society, regarding it as a provocational action which destabilizes the political situation in the republic, and whose goal is to restore the bourgeois order in the Estonian S.S.R." The Estonian Citizens' Committees (EKK) are being accused of adventurism, separatism and inflammation of inter-ethnic tensions. Therefore, we have been authorized to declare the following: 1. The Citizens' Committees are engaged in the registration of legal citizens of the Republic of Estonia - - a right which cannot be denied to the committees or to the citizens by any power on earth. 2. The accusation of inflammation of inter-ethnic hostility is groundless. Citizenship in the Republic of Estonia is founded solely upon a legal basis and is in no way connected to ethnic origin. A large number of ethnic Russian citizens of the Republic of Estonia have been registered, as well as thousands of other non-Estonians wishing future citizenship in the Republic of Estonia. 3. The accusation of separatism is absurd. Estonia cannot secede from someplace it never belonged. The Republic of Estonia has never joined the U.S.S.R.; rather, it was annexed. The restoration of legality on the territory of the Republic of Estonia is a matter of course. 4. The accusation of adventurism and destabilization of the political situation is demagogic. The activities of the Estonian Citizens' Committees are based on the universally recognized standards of international law, according to which the Republic of Estonia is legally an existing state. The establishment of normal legal relations as quickly as possible between Estonia (also Latvia and Lithuania) and the U.S.S.R. will be a stabilizing factor for European security as well as our own. 5. The accusation of restoration of the bourgeois order in Estonia is hasty. Decisions on such an issue belong to the jurisdiction of none other than the parliament of the Republic of Estonia. 6. The Estonian Rural League has not yet officially joined in the establishment of Estonian Citizens' Committees. However, the Estonian Christian League has done so.

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7. There is no such thing as an extremist wing of the Estonian Heritage Society. There does exist, however, a unanimous decision by the Heritage Society's executive council to establish Estonian Citizens' Committees. 8. Misunderstandings about the character and goals of the Estonian Citizens' Committees are due to the obstructive mechanisms continually employed by the mass media. The poor availability of authentic information is the factor which dangerously destabilizes society. 9. We are willing to explain the activities and goals of the Estonian Citizens' Committees wherever necessary - including the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian S.S.R. and its committees.

Tallinn July 25, 1989 The Provisional Liaison Committee of the Estonian Citizens' Committees

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