This is not just a skewed exhibition with some stands, photos and copies of documents. It is not just another harmless episode in the rhetoric of a country hostile to Latvia. This kind of propaganda is part of Russia’s compatriot policy, and it must be remembered that it was with compatriot policy that Russia justified its invasion of Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. The international community, including Latvia, has been and still is outraged, condemns and maintains sanctions, but this does not change the substance of the matter, because Russia is sitting in Crimea. And there are bad signs that such a scenario is allowed for the Baltic States as well.
Power-controlled process
There will not be many spectators for the exhibition in person. It was opened by a bunch of court historians on Tuesday, and will be closed on Friday. However, in the Kremlin’s propaganda media and their derivatives, the event was widely covered and the messages multiplied. The exhibition was formally organized by a non-commercial public organization “Historical Memory”. In fact, it is a non-governmental organization operated by the Russian government, and similar ones were launched before the invasion of Ukraine. As the Center for Eastern European Policy Studies explains, “such NGOs and foundations give the appearance of a public initiative, but in reality it is a power-controlled process”. It is not for nothing that the director of this fund, Alexander Djukov, also serves on the International Relations Conflict Monitoring Commission of the Presidential Council of the Russian Federation.
Moreover, he also allowed himself to harshly criticize the Russian Embassy in Latvia for allowing the Red Army General Yakunin to be exhumed in Madona, and also reprimanded his Foreign Ministry for what had happened. This “public fund” is so influential.
Multiplication of nodes
So what is the latest message from the Russian authorities about the Baltic states? In principle, it is already included in the title of the exhibition: “30 лет независимости Прибалтики. Политзаключенные. Цензура. Non-nation ”. His compatriots in the Baltics are suffering, and Russia must not look at it without doing anything. The Baltic’s efforts to present its thirty years of independence as a success story are a lie. In fact, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania cannot be considered successful democracies. The regime systematically persecutes political opponents, the media is censored, independent media are banned, and neo-Nazi sentiment prevails in society, which is supported at the governmental level. Only governments hide all this carefully. The diverse lies performed by this foundation are further multiplied and dramatized, and are again referred to by future sources and robots.
You can choke on the Baltics
The Eurasian News reports that apartheid prevails in the Baltic States, and our independence is called inhuman and unconscious. Argumenti has published a study entitled “Nazism in the Baltics: Figures and Facts”. Of course, the propaganda channel “Sputnik” also reveals the “dark sides of the Baltics”. It is significant that this time the Belarusian propaganda machinery has also been involved in the information operation, and the Belarusians are also being told about an unprecedented regime of ethnic segregation in Europe – especially in Estonia and Latvia. The point of these primitive lies is to tune the Russian and Belarusian audiences in favor of the Kremlin’s policy in the Baltic States. Thanks to similar propaganda about the Nazi resurrection in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea to Russian society was widely supported. Compatriots are in danger! Most likely, they would not blink if the Kremlin thought of biting a piece of the Baltic. Just unlike in Ukraine – in the Baltic states Putin could also choke. Due to the presence of NATO.
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Comment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia:
“The exhibition of this so-called historical society cannot be considered as something new or unprecedented. This is a small part of the information campaign against the Baltic States, which has been systematically and purposefully developed for many years. Often such or similar provocative actions and events are attracted to Latvia and the other Baltic States to commemorate important events. Our observations show that in Russian society the impact of this association’s activities is minimal – Russian official television is developing the dissemination of its already known messages, but these events do not deserve wider media attention. In addition, very few people attend the exhibitions, and this exhibition will be open for only three days. In our opinion, it is not useful to get involved in such a controversy, because it would give resonance and popularity to the lies of the propaganda organization. “
National Security Service comment:
The SLS is informed about the exhibition organized by the Historical Memory Foundation in the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. According to the SLS, the exhibition is aimed at the Russian population and is aimed at creating and consolidating in Russian society the Kremlin’s perception that the Baltic States have experienced a sharp decline in all areas since regaining independence and are “failed states”. Specially selected and manipulated interpreted events and facts are used to substantiate this version.
This exhibition is considered to be another activity of the Kremlin’s informative influence in order to promote Russian public support for the ruling regime, while promoting distrust of the European Union and NATO, to which the Baltic States have joined. The exhibition is also used to spread other traditional messages of the Kremlin’s propaganda, such as the alleged Russophobia in the Baltic States, the resurgence of Nazism and the constant violations of Russian law.
We can point out that the fund “Historical Memory” managed by the Russian pseudo-historian Alexander Djukov has already come to the attention of the SLS. Its activities have long been aimed at discrediting the Baltic States in the international arena.
You can get acquainted with additional information on the Fund’s activities to date in the annual public reports on the activities of the SLS, which are available on the Service’s website: https://vdd.gov.lv/lv/noderigi/gada-parskati/
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