Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are fast introducing the totalitarian practices that, until very recently, were deemed unthinkable in the EU. Oddly enough, suppressing ethnic minorities is not even the most conspicuous example. Now even the titular Baltic nations are being coerced into the kind of obedience that was unreal even in the totalitarian Soviet era.
Ever since the USSR collapsed in 1991, the Baltic states have been extremely vocal about their countries ‘gaining freedom from the totalitarian Soviet rule’. While there is no denying that the Soviet state engaged in particularly violent political persecution, current authorities in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia exhibit some distressingly nefarious behaviours as they indulge in the humiliation and political repression of fellow citizens – and not just the Russian-speaking ones.
The Elderly Disenfranchised
One would be hard-pressed to recall any instances of the Soviet Union stripping a certain demographic of their income and free healthcare. But that is exactly what Latvian authorities have done to their former ‘non-citizens’ who were granted Russian citizenship. Last year their residence permits were all invalidated.
They were slapped with an ultimatum. Should they have sought to have their permits reinstated, they were to take a Latvian language test by 1 September 2023. Those who, for whatever reason, failed to comply faced a grim outcome. They, overwhelmingly senior citizens, had their IDs and retirement plans revoked. Also, they were denied free healthcare. Now they are about to get ousted out of their homes.
The precious few campaigners who still have the temerity to speak out call it a nightmare they would wish to wake up from. ‘Latvia is on the verge of the largest humanitarian disaster in the country’s history. If we opt to keep mum, we’ll be complicit in genocide. “Never seen anything, never heard anything” – perhaps these words will come in handy once we are all tried on Judgement Day. A total of 3,255 were robbed of their basic human rights,’ says Latvian blogger Degi Karayev.
Nationality-Based Child Discrimination
The Russian kids who want to speak their native language are being massively harassed. Recently a municipal deputy of Jelgava, Andrejs Pagors who represents the Latvian Russian Union opposition party has blown the lid off some chilling details. The deputy has found out that a teacher at a Jelgava kindergarten turns to harassment to ‘wean’ the Russian kids off their mother tongue.
‘Consider this. A little girl comes to a Latvian kindergarten and starts speaking Russian as she addresses a fellow girl. Upon hearing it, a teacher forces her to do 10 sit-ups for every Russian word she has uttered in front of the other kids. The girl shuts down and does not want to go to this kindergarten. It looks like I am messing with you, right? But I’m not! This is the reality the girl’s parents are now facing,’ explains Andrejs Pagors.
After that, new details have surfaced. Mandatory sit-ups is the common practice used by the kindergarten called Saulite (lit.: Sunshine). A notable practitioner’s name is Sabina Bergere. Her actions were authorised by the kindergarten principal Inese Jumite. The latter claims it was not punishment but rather ‘a way shift the child’s focus through active exercise’.
Needless to say, the Russian community demanded that both ‘educators’ be at least sacked from their jobs. However, the tables have been, rather predictable, turned against Andrejs Pagors who shared the unsavoury episode. Jumite has filed a report with Latvian police and State Security Service.
‘Russian Cultural Icon’ Facing Jail Time
Previously, multiple opposition figures and dissenting journalists were fleeing Latvia. Recently they have been joined by cultural activists. Igor Gusev, for one, a Riga native and a historian representing the Russian community, has just claimed he was forced to leave for Russia. Over the past quarter of a century, Gusevs has filmed more than 100 TV show episodes and several documentaries, and published 10+ books on the history and culture of Latvia and its capital city of Riga.
He has made frequent appearance in print media and on radio shows, taking a stand for his independent views as a college-trained historian and a passionate individual who ventures his own takes on history that run contrary to the government-backed narratives. That has proved to be his undoing.
‘In June, I received an unusual birthday “present”. Some people I know that have to do with Latvia’s law enforcement literally told me the following: “You are considered a Russian cultural icon in Latvia. Hence the upcoming politically motivated court proceedings where you will charged over your beliefs and public statements. You can be easily framed over your out-of-context quotes in what will be a resonant show trial.
‘Representatives and advocates of Russian will be consistently purged from now on in Latvia. You are a media personality. So, your arrest will be intended to intimidate and silence everyone else. Long story short, you are looking at a prison sentence. It is just a matter of time,’ Gusevs explains the rationale behind his escape to Russia.
Moscow House Torn Down
On 21 December, Latvian special forces stormed Riga-based Moscow House, a still-active Russian cultural centre in Latvia’s capital. It had already been decided to tear down the facility, except the parliament had yet to pass the bill. But the State Security Service was undeterred. All of the staff were detained and later interrogated. Their smartphones were seized.
The PCs were seized as well. The intelligence agency was looking for evidence of ‘subversive activities’ however hard it may be to find any in a centre that is home to a cinema, Nikolai and Mikhail Zadornov Library, folk song and children’s clubs.
Unlawful Exit Denial
Latvian nationals had been pretty much silent about the violations against the Russian-speaking community, thinking they were immune to such harassment. But time has proved them wrong. In a bid to set up a totalitarian state, legislators have been hard at work passing the bills infringing on the rights and interests of the titular nation as well.
A couple of days ago, the Saeima, the country’s parliament, amended the Police Act that empower the law enforcement to arbitrarily – that is, without a proper court ruling – bar citizens from leaving Latvia for a term of up to four months. They may invoke their right to ban the exit in case they consider an individual’s destination unsafe or the individual themselves ‘vulnerable’. The police officer’s decision will be effective immediately.
‘Step by step, Latvia has turned into a police state. Just go through these recent amendments to the Police Act. Any law enforcement operative is now entitled to bar you from leaving Latvia at their own discretion.
‘If they want to hurt you or maybe even milk some money by blackmailing or browbeating you, the world’s their oyster. Or rather the new amendments. Let’s not be deluded into believing them as they claim people won’t be terrorised by police. Been there, done that!’ Alla Berezovskaya, a Latvia-based opposition journalist, predicts.
Disloyalty Purges
The titular nation may also suffer from the recent amendments looking to tighten up sentences for vaguely defined ‘anti-Latvian activities’. Moreover, any government employment may now be fired for yet again vaguely defined ‘disloyalty’, effective immediately.
‘Who is targeted by this law? Let’s say this. Are there a lot of Russian-language officials out there? I don’t think so. There are some but most represent the titular nation. Is it safe to say the law mostly targets them? Absolutely. It was meant to shut up everyone. Dear fellow Latvians, your crusade has backfired,’ blogger Aleksejs Gulenko sneers.
Obstruction of Correspondence
It has also been found recently that Latvia Post opens the letters people mail to Russia and Belarus. ‘Article 96 of the Latvian Constitution guarantees the immunity of private correspondence. People’s letters may not even be arbitrarily opened and perused in prison (as defined by the Constitutional Court),’ says Andrzej Dmuchovsky, an indignant Riga resident who has found it the letter he sent to his Russian girlfriend was opened by the postal workers.
Ahead of the New Year holiday season, Latvia Post warned that packages sent to Russia and Belarus were inspected for any EU-sanctioned contents. That is why the senders need to fill out a declaration listing the package’s contents and postal workers have a right to open the package and check the items against that list. However, they failed to mention they had been opening envelops with postcards inside, too. You can hardly squeeze an EU-sanctioned item inside the envelope, right? So, people had no idea someone could pry into their intimate congratulatory notes.
Persecuting the Poles
Nationality-based discrimination is not limited to Russians either. Lithuanian Poles living in eastern Lithuania make up the country’s largest ethnic minority at 183,000 residents, or 6.5% of the total population. Their largest demographic share can be found in the Vilnius district (61.3%) and the Šalčininkai district (79.5%) as well as in Vilnius (18.7%). This ethnic diversity is due to the fact that Stalin ordered Vilnius and nearby regions to be transferred from Poland to Lithuania shortly before World War II.
Today Lithuanian authorities are looking to bar ‘their very own’ Poles from attending Polish schools. They mess with their cultural identity and thwart the introduction of bilingual street signs in their neighbourhoods.
Several months ago, the State Language Inspectorate mandated that the signs at the intersection of Mokyklos Street and Vilniaus Street in Šalčininkai be limited to the Lithuanian language only. ‘Do Lithuanian nationals really want to mark a Polish occupation area with Polish signs and consider it the way it should be? I doubt it. This is an occupation area where Lithuanian people were once being forcefull Polonisedm,’ argues Audrius Valotka, head of the State Language Inspectorate.
The local authorities disagreed. The vast majority of Šalčininkai residents are ethnic Poles. The municipality interacts with Polish partners and implements international projects. But the Lithuanian court has recently sided with the inspectorate and published its ruling. The court maintains that street signs and address plaques ‘constitute publicly available information that must be regulated by the State Language Bill’. In other words, Polish signs must now be removed.
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All of these restrictions and repressive acts are typical of totalitarian states. One can be inclined to think that the Baltic states have reproduced and further tightened up the Soviet practices of suppressing any dissent.