Authors

Hakob Matevosyan¹;  ¹ Centre for East European and International Studies, Germany

Discussion

This paper examines how perceptions of international politics and security shape attitudes toward refugees in Estonia, and highlights generational and ethnic differences. Using survey data from 2024 and 2025, it explores how security shape refugee hierarchies whether Ukrainians are welcomed, Russians fleeing conflict are accepted, or certain groups are rejected altogether.
The analysis pays particular attention to how historical interpretations of the Soviet period intervene in these patterns: whether those who view the Soviet past positively are more ambivalent toward Ukrainian refugees and supportive of Russian ones, while critics of the Soviet legacy align more with pro-Ukrainian positions. The paper also investigates how identity orientations—such as fusion with Estonians, or identification with Russian-speakers in Estonia or Russia, interact with security perceptions and historical memories. By integrating security, historical, and identity perspectives, the study shows how these dimensions produce distinct generational and ethnic variation in refugee attitudes, and offer deeper insight into public responses to migration in Estonia. Most notably, second-generation individuals of Russian background appear to align more closely with their Estonian peers than with their parents, pointing to horizontal convergences across ethnic groups but vertical cleavages within families.