Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin
Uncategorized

Why the West will eventually make up with Russia on Putin’s terms

Six years ago, when Russia attacked Georgia and tore off the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Western countries were, as always, “very concerned”, sent out their observers, provided humanitarian support and Nocolas Sarozy, the then President of France, volunteered to mediate in settling the conflict. […]

Opinion

Opinion: Orientalism reanimated or colonial thinking in Western analysts’ comments on Ukraine

Over the last few months, pro-Russian commentators in many Western countries have been portraying the Ukrainian events using a mix of stereotypes that scarily resemble the rhetoric once typical of racist and imperialist ways of thinking. As a result of such stereotypes, Ukrainians (but also Georgians, Moldovans, Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians) have fallen victims to a new form of Orientalism, a distorted way of thinking that people in the West exhibit all too often when talking about other parts of the world. […]

Monika Garbačiauskaitė-Budrienė
Society

DELFI editor-in-chief: Our readers understand that Russia is not joking

Is it worth it to frighten the Lithuanian citizens with war? This question is not as simple as it seems, as some citizens are convinced that it is necessary to constantly remind people that Russia is a threat because this is the only factor that can force Lithuanian politicians to act statesmanlike and work to strengthen the foundations of the country. […]

Energy

Unsolved dilemma of Orlen Lietuva (Mažeikių Nafta)

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). […]

Raimundas Karoblis
European Union

Lithuanian ambassador: Nobody in EU suggests softening Russian sanctions

All member states and institutions of the European Union are in favour of continuing with the existing sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine, the Lithuanian ambassador in Brussels said on Tuesday. […]

No Picture
Opinion

Opinion: What do Russian probes in the Baltic portend?

Earlier this month (October 2014), Scandinavian, and especially Swedish, media have focused on Sweden’s apparently abortive efforts to locate what was allegedly a disabled Russian reconnaissance submarine off its shores near Stockholm. But beyond the glaring evidence of the degradation of Swedish military capabilities — a condition it shares with most if not all of Europe — there is a larger story here. […]

Andrey Piontkovsky
Uncategorized

Andrey Piontkovsky: Putin plans to play poker, not chess

Russian president Vladimir Putin intends to blackmail the West with a nuclear weapon. So says Russian policy expert Andrey Piontkovsky. He reasons that if the “little green men” and Russian troops turn up in Estonia, for example, Vladimir Putin would warn NATO not to intervene because that would be a Russian World affair and he’d threaten to use nuclear weapons if the Alliance took military action against him. […]

Ivan Okhlobystin

Russian actor banned from entering Latvia for homophobic comments

A Russian sitcom actor, notorious for his anti-LGBT statements, was banned from entering Latvia for saying gay people should be burned alive, The St. Petersburg Times reports. […]