Russophobia becomes a national ideology in the Baltics

10

On October 18, the foreign ministries of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia called on Washington to keep in mind the "threat from Russia" despite the deteriorating relations between the US and China. In an interview with the American magazine Newsweek, the heads of the Latvian and Estonian foreign ministries and the Lithuanian deputy foreign minister stressed that the United States and its allies should be more vigilant about the challenges posed by Russia and China.

I really hope that the current US administration and the EU countries will not forget about the challenges that Russia presents ... While solving problems on the one hand, let's not forget about the other. Otherwise, one morning we will wake up with a very unpleasant surprise and then again we will try to understand who missed it.

- noted the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia Edgar Rinkevich.



In his opinion, the point of view of people who believe that “more ties with Russia are needed to balance the influence of China” is “naive.

The Latvian diplomat was also supported by his Lithuanian colleague. “Russia poses a short- or medium-term threat that is extremely important

- said the Deputy Foreign Minister of Lithuania Mantas Adomenas.

Of course, this is far from the first case of ardent anti-Russian statements emanating from the Baltic politiciansHowever, the fact that officials in the rank of ministers specifically gave a joint interview to the American publication, only to once again tell the United States how "bad" Russia is, is suggestive.

Russophobia as an ideology


Russophobia today has actually turned into almost the official ideology of the Baltic countries. After the collapse of the USSR, the topic of Russia has traditionally occupied a key place both in the domestic and foreign policy of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Nevertheless, relations between these countries and Moscow up until 2014 were rather moderate. However, as it turns out, all this time the Baltic leadership was rather stalling for time, waiting for the right moment in order to show their true intentions not only in relation to the local Russian-speaking population, but also to the whole of Russia. Such a chance was presented to them seven years ago after a sharp deterioration in relations between the Russian Federation and the collective West, as a result of which a number of local politicians, apparently, decided that their finest hour had come. Finally, they also found something to express in the foreign policy arena, and finally they began to somehow listen to them in the European Parliament.

At the same time, no one in Brussels is going to notice that Latvian and Estonian nationalist politicians have been de facto enthusiastically building their own variation on the theme of apartheid since the early 1990s. Apparently, tolerance and intolerance to racism, which are at the forefront of public policy in the EU, do not apply to the Baltic countries. As a result, de facto segregation of the population along ethnic lines and the defeat of the rights of the Russian-speaking population have long become the norm. The very fact of the introduction of the legal concept of "non-citizens" and the issuance of so-called "passports of aliens" to them already demonstrates how deeply the ideas of fascism are rooted in the minds of the ruling elite. After all, the division of the population into full-fledged citizens and "Untermenshes" (subhumans) is precisely the cornerstone on which the disgusting racial policy of the Nazis was based. And the repressions based on it were applied, including against ethnic Slavs. That is, in fact, what the current Baltic authorities are now doing can be regarded as a direct continuation of the Nazi policy. As if there was no hardest victory over the fascists, as if the soldiers of the Red Army did not liberate Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia at the cost of thousands of their lives.

The reason for this behavior of the Baltic elites is simple - the desire to completely free their territory from "colonists and occupiers" - as local nationalists call ethnic Russians who came to the Baltic states during the Soviet era to raise industry, build factories, factories, schools and hospitals. While working for the benefit of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, they did not expect gratitude, but still they could hardly expect what is happening now - to be non-citizens in the countries for the benefit of which they had worked for decades.

Although this is really nowhere else in Europe. Moreover, this is not a subjective assessment, but an objective reality. According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, the proportion of the population without EU citizenship in Latvia and Estonia is one of the highest in the European Union - 13% and 14%, respectively. Among all twenty-seven EU countries, this indicator is higher only in the Principality of Liechtenstein (16%), but there this situation has completely different social andeconomic preconditions that have nothing to do with oppression on a national basis (high migration and a thirty-year residency requirement for obtaining citizenship).

Fake independence


In the late 80s, the Baltic nationalists desperately yearned for independence, with the result that their countries were the first to announce their secession from the USSR. The desire to embark on a sovereign democratic path of development was then called one of the key arguments in favor of secession from the Soviet Union. "The Baltic countries can live and develop independently" - slogans of approximately the same meaning sounded then from local political tribunes.

Thirty-two years have passed. And what do we have? Probably, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia today are effective, dynamically developing, leading an independent policy of the state? Probably, they are primarily distinguished by independence in matters of foreign policy (not like in the harsh times of the Soviet "occupation")? Probably, they should have achieved all this in three decades?

No. And on all counts. Finding themselves alone with themselves, without the "hand of Moscow interfering with the development", the Baltic politicians suddenly realized that most of all they did not want to enjoy the "long-awaited" freedom and independence, but, by historical standards, barely leaving one union - the Soviet Union, almost immediately enter another - European. The same Latvia, for example, took only six years of "free floating" to officially apply for accession to the EU. And another big question is how many of them were taken by the legal preparation of the issue. So it is likely that the politicians who advocated independence were not at all going to put it into practice.

And this is not to mention the United States, which have become almost the official overlord of the Baltic republics, striving to demonstrate their utmost loyalty to the American side. And it doesn't matter what is needed for this. For example, if NATO soldiers are impatient to conduct full-scale military exercises with gunfire and other militaristic attributes right in the center of Riga, then please. And the fact that local residents, including children, were afraid that a war had started around them is just annoying little things. The main thing is to make a good impression on Washington.

After all, what, in essence, is the notorious interview to the American publication mentioned at the beginning of the article? First of all, it looks like an attempt to reach out to the high offices of the "Washington regional committee", access to which through the diplomatic line for the Baltic states is obviously closed. As you know, American politicians like to talk about the Baltic countries in the context of the "Russian threat", however, the representatives of these states themselves, for some reason, do not often get the honor of talking directly. Apparently, Washington believes that the Baltic politicians are already loyal enough to purposefully spend time on them. Today, the predatory attention of American foreign policy is too busy trying to solve issues with open rivals: Russia and China, as well as a hidden one - the European Union. So it is not worth expecting that the statements of the diplomats of the Baltic countries, who have gathered together to give their words more weight, will not be taken seriously. Most likely, they will be classified as yet another Russophobic statement by Baltic politicians, of whom there have been hundreds, if not thousands, in recent years. After all, in the absence of a different foreign or domestic political agenda, Russophobia is all they have left.
Our news channels

Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest news and the most important events of the day.

10 comments
Information
Dear reader, to leave comments on the publication, you must sign in.
  1. +2
    25 October 2021 10: 18
    It seems that Russophobia has acquired a global character, at least in Europe and North America, and it looks like it will take a long time - a whole generation has grown up on this, and even two generations in Ukraine.
  2. +1
    25 October 2021 11: 01
    In order for the minister not to wake up with an unpleasant surprise, trying to understand who missed it, it is enough not to fall asleep in a lump in the company of prostitutes like himself.
  3. 0
    25 October 2021 12: 19
    three plugs in the uni *** e
  4. 0
    25 October 2021 16: 21
    Russophobia becomes a national ideology in the Baltics

    Why "becomes"? When was there something else?
    I was born there, during the Soviet Union I often came to visit there (there were plenty of relatives left). When I traveled outside my hometown (the most Russian in Estonia) to the west, I saw this Russophobia. And after 1990. they generally went to the dressing-down. Now, on the contrary, they are gradually coming to realize that the fate of Afghanistan awaits them. And for all this orgy (contrary to EU legislation) you will have to be very specific and personally responsible. And for the shooting at the Vilnius TV Center, and for the Bronze Soldier (Terminal D), and for all the language laws ...
  5. -1
    25 October 2021 17: 25
    Are dairy products from the Tribaltic still supplied to Russia? If so, then it's time to refuse. You never know what they can splash there?
    1. 0
      25 October 2021 19: 01
      No, the sanctions (more precisely, counter-sanctions). now even in Riga sprats are Russian.
      1. +2
        2 November 2021 11: 47
        And the ports will be up soon.
        1. +2
          2 November 2021 13: 09
          Well, yes, if only Sillamäe works on the sly. Well, this is already your relationship ...
  6. +2
    26 October 2021 09: 17
    These publications confirm that the somewhat obsessive trolling of the Baltic politicians is reaching its goal.
    It would be better not to waste your time on nonsense and not pay attention.
  7. +1
    3 November 2021 23: 45
    Russophobia as it was and remains national ideology in the Baltics, but we don't care