On 7 March 2022 the University of Tartu barred new applicants holding Russian or Belarusian citizenship without an EU residence permit or long-stay visa from bachelor's and master's study.
A citizen of the Russian Federation or Belarus who held no residence permit or long-stay visa of an EU member state, and who was not already studying in Estonia, could not apply to the University of Tartu's bachelor's and master's programs from the 2022/23 academic year. The university's senate took that decision on Monday 7 March 2022.
ERR, Estonian Public Broadcasting, reported the decision in Estonian on 8 March 2022 and in English on 9 March 2022. Aune Valk, the university's vice-rector for studies, told ERR: "We firmly believe that this is Russia's war against democratic Ukraine, led by Vladimir Putin, and not a conflict between two peoples."
ERR reported that 257 Russian citizens and 25 Belarusian citizens were then studying at the university, and that students already matriculated could continue. President Alar Karis, a former rector of the university, called the decision controversial, said he thought it likely to be reviewed, and noted that some Russian citizens hold dual nationality.
A public letter published by Estonian World on 10 March 2022 said that more than 1,200 people had signed it. It asked the rector and the senate to reconsider and argued that the decision discriminates on the basis of citizenship.
A separate state measure followed later that year. An amendment to a government regulation came into force on 30 July 2022, after which the Police and Border Guard Board no longer issued visas or temporary residence permits for study to citizens of the Russian Federation, with an exception allowing a one-year extension for students close to completing their studies. The university's notice of 3 August 2022 records this, and gives 218 Russian citizens studying at the University of Tartu as of 1 August 2022.
The citizenship clause carried into the following admission cycle in narrowed form. Senate regulation No. 11 of 28 October 2022, clause 3, states that in 2023/2024 a citizen of the Russian Federation or Belarus cannot apply if, under Estonian legislation, they cannot apply for a long-stay visa or residence permit for study, or have no valid legal basis to stay in Estonia until the end of the nominal study period. Clause 57.1.2 allows the university to annul an admission decision on the same ground.
On 18 May 2023 ERR reported that the government approved a narrow exception allowing Russian and Belarusian students already in Estonia who had reached B2 Estonian, plus doctors, dentists and academic staff, to apply for new residence permits. The report gave 298 Russian or Belarusian citizens studying at Estonian universities in 2022/23, and about 78 close to completing a curriculum. That exception softened the state measure, not the university's admission bar.
The university's currently published eligibility text for the 2026/2027 academic year names only citizens of the Russian Federation, not Belarus, and is framed as following from Estonian legislation. The university's war-in-Ukraine page summarizes the later restriction more broadly than the regulation text does.
Sources
- ERR News (Estonian Public Broadcasting), March 2022
Where it stands
No reversal of the March 2022 decision was found, and no court ruling, Chancellor of Justice finding or equality-body decision on it was located. The decision was contested at the time by more than 1,200 signatories to the public letter and by President Alar Karis, who called it controversial and said he thought it likely to be reviewed. The restriction remains in place in narrowed form, now framed as following from Estonian legislation and naming only citizens of the Russian Federation.