Russia and Baltic States Russian minorities in the
Russia and Baltic States • Russian minorities in the Baltic states; • Memory about the second world war
1939 – Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact; 1940 – the USSR occupied the Baltic states; 1941 – deportations of the inhabitants of the Baltic states to the regions of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet National Policy in the Baltic States • 1920 s – ethnic Russians made up about 8 cent of the population of Latvia and Estonia; • In late 1980 s Russians made up 9, 4 % of Lithuanian population, a third part of Estonian population, and 34 % of Latvian population.
Singing Revolution
Baltic Way 1989 – 700 000 Estonians, 500 000 Latvians and 1 mln Lithuanians participated in Baltic Chain
1995 – 2004 – integration of the Baltic countries into Western Structures • 1995 – the Baltic states proclaimed their willingness to join NATO; • March 2004 – Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia joined NATO; • May 1, 2004 – the Baltic countries joined the EU.
Citizenship for Russian-speakers in Latvia and Estonia Naturalization procedure: - knowledge of a respective language country; - knowledge of history and Constitution; - oath of loyalty to the country and its constitutional order.
Memory of War
The Baltic States and Ukrainian Crisis • The Baltic states together with Poland stand out among the other European states in their decisiveness to support Ukraine; • Is their a threat to the Baltic states from Russian side? • Will NATO stand up for the Baltic countries in case of invasion?
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