The authorities in Estonia have dismissed a total of three-hundred Russian-speaking policemen who have failed to pass the Estonian language tests required for citizenship.

The dismissals, which happened in stages, followed an announcement by the Estonian government that it was reducing the numbers of police officers and would raise the salaries of those remaining.

Most of the sacked policemen worked in Russian-speaking areas in eastern Estonia and in the capital, Tallinn.

About one third of Estonia's one-and-a-half million inhabitants are Russian-speakers.