As Lithuanians are getting ready to vote for their next President on May 12, the race is intensifying between the three leading candidates Ingrida Šimonytė, Gitanas Nausėda, and Saulius Skvernelis. Ms. Šimonytė has taken the […]
With the Russian 9th of May celebrations of Soviet victory in World War Two approaching, many in the Baltic States are concerned about the potential risk of provocations or confrontation stemming from the more radical and disgruntled elements of the local Russian minority. Moreover, since Russia launched a shadow war in eastern Ukraine in 2014, NATO, American, and European governments have been increasingly concerned about the risks of hybrid warfare in Poland and the Baltic region. […]
Russia’s euphoric and triumphalist celebration all this week, marking the one year anniversary of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, has already drawn crowds of people, national flags in abundance, and veterans marching in various cities. Meanwhile, Russia-backed militants continue their attacks in eastern Ukraine testing the fragile truce between Kiev and the separatist forces. A year later since Moscow’s foray into Crimea, there is little evidence of Russia is willing to back down or back out of its aggressive campaign in Ukraine. What often gets blurred in Moscow’s nationalist rhetoric is that fact that Russia’s economic and military interests in Ukraine run deep, making Russia’s pull out from Ukraine unlikely in the medium to long-term. […]
The Russian state’s control of Russian media is well known and thus, it is not surprising that the Russian media had often been used as Moscow’s tool abroad. The prevalence of the Russian language and the sizeable Russian minorities in Estonia and Latvia facilitate receptiveness to Russian language media. […]
Russia has consistently applied its own interpretation of history and dose of propaganda vis-à-vis the Baltic states. In the 1990s and most of the 2000s, the main source of tension in the propaganda sphere was the interpretation of Soviet history, in particular Soviet occupation of the Baltic states. […]
The launch of Lithuania’s new LNG Terminal Independence in Klaipėda is cause for celebration as a victory over Russian gas dominance. as well as neighbouring Latvia and Estonia. However, another Lithuanian energy sector dilemma remains unresolved despite efforts of the European Commission and Vilnius and Warsaw – the Russian eight year long oil ‘embargo’ against the Lithuanian oil refinery Orlen Lietuva (Mažeikių Nafta). […]
The end of summer will elicit concerns among many EU states regarding the stability of the Russian gas supply during the cold winter months as tensions in Ukraine persist. Yet, one unexpected set of states – Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia – will greet the winter with more energy security than ever. […]
There is a long-held view that the Russian gas supply to Lithuania is unlikely to be cut-off because Lithuania serves as a gas transit state to the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. In other words, the same gas pipeline feeding Lithuania, also supplies the Russian enclave. According to this argument, Moscow would be hesitant to turn off the gas supply to Lithuania because it would result in an automatic cut in the gas supply to Kaliningrad. […]
As the crisis in Ukraine is escalating with the prospect of Russian military intervention, there is every reason to believe that Vladimir Putin will use other weapons at his disposal. Thus European nations are increasingly – and justifiably – worried about the impending winter months when Russia could ratchet up the pressure on Europe, as it has done in the past, by imposing another gas halt with the consequent loss of life and negative economic impacts. […]
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