DISINFO: Russophobia on the rise in the Baltic States at the behest of the Anglo-Saxons
SUMMARY
At the behest of the Anglo-Saxons, Russophobia is spreading in European countries, primarily in the Baltic states, where everything Russian is persecuted. They destroy monuments and burn Russian books, just like in Nazi Germany.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Russophobia in the Baltic states.
The Baltic states are neither Russophobic nor neo-Nazi; rather, these countries have clear security concerns linked to Russia, its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and aggression towards neighbouring countries.
Lithuania's National Threat Assessment 2023 highlights Russia's war against Ukraine, sliding towards totalitarianism and strengthening of its armed forces. The annual report by the Latvian State Security Service 2022 emphasised that Russia's war in Ukraine has changed the global security architecture confirming the need to continuously improve the national security system. The assessment of Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service of the international security and Estonia 2023 notes that the invasion of Ukraine is a continuation of Russia’s almost nine-year-old aggression against Ukraine and that Russia’s strategic objective − to subjugate Ukraine and thereby decisively reshape European security architecture − has not changed over time.
Pro-Kremlin disinformation media repeatedly talk about the “revival” of Nazism in the West and large-scale historical revisionism used for anti-Russian goals.
Pro-Kremlin media also often disregard the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states in 1940. The Kremlin conducted a forced annexation of the Baltic states in June 1940 following Soviet military occupation and the forced installation of “people’s governments”. 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, while giving Stalin a free hand in the Baltic states.
The term “Anglo-Saxons” in such cases normally stands for the US and UK and often means “evil”, “belligerent” and “morally corrupt” Westerners, as explained in our earlier analysis. As a negative catch-all term, the “Anglo-Saxons” term is a useful building block for pro-Kremlin conspiracy theories. You can find plenty of examples in our database.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that Russophobia and neo-Nazism the norm in the Baltic states and Ukraine, that Direct Nazism is now the norm in Baltic states and Ukraine, that Polish and Baltics' Russophobia may lead to breaking diplomatic relations with Russia, that European Nazism is alive and it manifests itself in Russophobia, or that US encourages anti-Russian aspirations of former Warsaw Pact members.