DISINFO: The Baltic states are the anti-Russian vanguard of the West
DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS
  • Outlet: baltnews.lt (archived)*
  • Date of publication: February 10, 2022
  • Article language(s): Russian
  • Reported in: Issue 272
  • Countries / regions discussed: Russia, Baltic states
Tags:
Russophobia Historical revisionism Human rights Occupation WWII

DISINFO: The Baltic states are the anti-Russian vanguard of the West

SUMMARY

The Baltic states are the vanguard of the anti-Russian movement in the West. They rewrite their common history with Russia. Especially the history of WWII. They are accusing the Soviet Union of “occupation”, using the term “Soviet occupation”. The Baltic states regularly violate human rights too.

RESPONSE

The narrative is presenting traditional cliches of Kremlin disinformation about the Baltic states. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are accused of historical revisionism, Russophobia and violation of human rights.

The circumstances of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states in 1940 are well-known today. On 23 August 1939, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany signed a non-aggression (Molotov-Ribbentrop) pact whose secret protocols divided the territories belonging to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, and Romania into Soviet and Nazi spheres of influence. The Baltic States were not the beneficiaries of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact. Like other countries mentioned in the pact, they lost their independence and territories.

Soviet occupation of the Baltic States lasted for 50 years and resulted in mass deportations and repressions against local populations. On 24 December 1989, the Parliament of the USSR, the Congress of the People’s Deputies, adopted a resolution, acknowledging the annexation of the Baltic states as a violation of the USSR's obligations. An English translation of the full text can be found here:

The Congress notes that during this period the relations of the USSR with Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were regulated by a system of treaties. Pursuant to the 1920 Peace Treaties and 1926-1933 Non-Aggression Treaties, the signatories were obliged to honour each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability under any circumstances. The Soviet Union had assumed similar obligations to Poland and Finland.

The statement about the systematic violation of human rights in the Baltic states also is groundless. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are democratic countries, members of the European Union. In the Global Freedom Status (by Freedom House), the Baltic states are marked as “Free” with a high score: Lithuania (90 points from 100), Latvia (89 points from 100), Estonia (94 points from 100).

See similar examples of Kremlin disinformation about the Baltic states: The Baltic states violate the right of Russian-speaking people to get informed in their Mother tongue; The Baltic states trade Russophobia for financial assistance of the US and the EU; The Soviet occupation of the Baltic states is a myth.

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Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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