OREANDA-NEWS. The new President of Estonia, Alar Karis, criticized the proposal to abandon the Russian language in schools and the idea of making only Estonian-language higher education free. He said this in an interview with the local state portal ERR.

The Head of State noted that such actions would «smack of discrimination», but did not deny the fact that language is still a significant factor of division in society. The President of Estonia explained that in order to bring the people to a single system of values, it is necessary to convey to people that knowledge of the Estonian language opens up new opportunities for them.

On June 15, Estonian Prime Minister Kaya Kallas said that from 2035 the authorities will stop funding Russian-language schools and kindergartens in the country. However, she noted that children will still be able to attend kindergartens and schools with instruction in Russian, but such institutions will not be funded from the budget.