Riga/Tallinn  - Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves urged his country's stateless residents to adopt full citizenship on Wednesday.

Speaking at a ceremony in Tallinn at which he handed citizenship certificates to newly-qualified citizens, Ilves said: "Your will demonstrates that you trust and need Estonia. I affirm to you that Estonia trusts and needs you."

Estonia has an estimated 100,000 residents who do not have full citizenship, out of a total population of 1.3 million. Most non- citizens are ethnic Russians.

Following the recent conflict in Georgia, the status of the Russian minority in Estonia has come under fresh scrutiny, with the Russian embassy in Tallinn denying media reports that it plans to hand out Russian passports to non-citizens.

"The Estonian state must ask itself, without changing the foundations of the citizenship policy, have we done everything to enable those who have not yet made the choice to acquire citizenship?" Ilves said. (dpa)