For Estonian State, which has re-established independence in August 1991, the total political and economic change has been accompanied by the problems of synchronous shift of collective identities of nations and ethnic groups. For ethnic minorities integration is a continuous process in which they step by step, more and more stand closer to Estonian society without forgetting at the same time their original ethnic roots and cultural heritage. Integration is considered as a process of the formation of a co-operating, democratic and well-functioning society. Almost all states have population of non-citizens, which differ culturally and ethnically from the majority of citizens.
In Estonia problems concerning the status of new ethnic minorities are very tightly connected with the Soviet occupation in 1944-1991 and with defining the citizenry of newly independent state. Estonians and Russians experienced the disintegration of Soviet Union differently: Estonians as a subject-nation aspiring towards political self-determination and a nation-state, Russians as the dominant nation longing for the return of their previously balanced state.