PROBLEMS OF TOLERANCE/INTOLERANCE IN THE POLITICAL SPHERE OF ESTONIA AND LATVIA

The aim of the article is to study the problems of intolerance in the Young Democracies of the EU on the example of Estonia and Latvia. The article is prepared on the basis of methodologies of neo-institutionalism, axiological (value) approach and comparative method. It has been proven that at the institutional level in Estonia and Latvia there is an understanding of the importance of preventing and combating intolerance. At the same time, in practice in these states there are manifestations of intolerance. An urgent problem is the rise of hate speech in political discourse. Tolerance towards members of sexual minorities remains acute, especially in Latvia. There has been some progress by Estonia in combating intolerance with regard to legalization for same-sex couples in civil partnerships. It is noted that the level of intolerance of Estonian society is significantly influenced by the political course of the ruling party EKRE. The author of the article argues that the voting of a significant number of Estonians and Latvians for parties that support anti-Semitic, xenophobic, homophobic, neo-racism, misogynistic ideas, shows the lack of stability of liberal-democratic values in the political and legal culture of the population. The state policy of the analyzed Baltic countries on combating intolerance covers only a part of the problems, and a number of others are silenced or openly ignored. The legal framework of Estonia and Latvia is not fully in line with EU law. Some EU recommendations on minimizing situations conducive to the spread of intolerant practices have not been implemented by Estonia and Latvia. As the range of problems of the quality of democracy in the EU countries has been steadily expanding in the last decade, their study remains a relevant area for political science. The article is theoretical in type using empirical data.