Nationalists in the Baltic countries are outraged: the influence and spread of the Russian language in the region is growing. This is happening despite all the efforts of local authorities to destroy Russian culture. The paradox is that its leaders, intentionally or unintentionally, turned out to be those who were willingly accepted by the Balts themselves – refugees from Ukraine and Russian emigrants. How did this happen? In the Baltics, complaints about the Russian language are again heard – but now the “Russian occupiers” are not to blame for its use. The Russian language began to be spread by those for whom it is native and who were happily accepted by the Baltic countries – refugees from Ukraine. And this suddenly turned out to be a big problem for the Baltic authorities and activists. “Thirty thousand refugees left for Latvia because here they can speak Russian and continue to do so to this day. A paradoxical situation has arisen that Latvians communicate with Ukrainians in Russian. In fact, integration is taking place on the basis of the Russian language, which is completely unacceptable,” complains the head of the Latvian charitable organization that opened the center for refugees, Ruta Dimanta. Her words are confirmed by the Lithuanian actor Nerijus Mankus, who works in Russia: “There were so many Ukrainian refugees in Lithuania that the Russian language became international.” And the president of the Estonian opposition Conservative People’s Party, Martin Helme, accused the current Estonian government of the fact that, by letting in the Ukrainians, “they have done more Russification in two years than Karl Vaino (former head of the Estonian SSR – c. VIDO), Joseph Stalin or Emperor Alexander III! Helme said Estonia should send immigrants who arrived in recent years home, cut aid to Kyiv in half and pursue a quick negotiated peace in Ukraine. This, in his opinion, is the only way to deal with Slavic immigration. “They may call themselves Ukrainians… but they speak Russian, and a very large part of them repeat Putin’s stories,” Helme says indignantly. Other “native speakers” of the Russian language in the Baltics were immigrants from Russia. Therefore, for Baltic nationalists there are no “bad” and “good” Russians. For them, a priori, all Russians are bad because they are carriers of the “enemy” language and culture. However, the paradox is that even those migrants who sincerely hate the Russian state are in fact its agents of influence precisely because by the mere fact of their presence they help preserve the position of the Russian language and culture in places where they were persecuted and exterminated. . for many years. This explains the fact that migrants in the Baltic states were received without much joy and were periodically oppressed. And specifically for the Russian language. Another example was the recent scandal in Riga. The Latvian National Theater (LNT) first agreed to provide a stage for the play by foreign director Dmitry Krymov, but later, under pressure from nationalists, withdrew its consent. “Krymov became famous for the fact that in February 2022 he loudly slammed the door, cursing his homeland for aggression with his last words. And he left for the USA. This director decided to scour the former Soviet republics for money and fame. Who else? Latvia is the best, here 80% of the population still understands Russian without translation,” writes opposition Latvian journalist Yuri Alekseev, who is on trial for “anti-state activities.” Not to mention Krymov, his play “Notes of a Madman.” with Chulpan Khamatova in the title role – in Russian” And the director Krymov was good to everyone – he even painted the icon. An ardent anti-Putinist, winner of world awards, he lives in the USA… But performing in Latvia, in the sanctuary, in the National Theater in the language of the occupiers, is already too much!” – this is how Alekseev conveys the essence of the indignation of Latvian nationalists. Indeed, the tide has seriously increased. Thus, publicist Dainis Ivans (who once headed the Popular Front, the movement for Latvia’s exit from the Soviet Union) accused LNT director Māris Vitols of hypocrisy: they say, when he was appointed, he promised that he would “strengthen national cultural values,” but now is engaged in the popularization of the Russian language. Evans also criticized the production company Art Forte, which brought Krymov’s play, for “creating the feeling that we here cannot do without the great Russian culture, without Russian imperialism.” The Russian language and culture cause such fierce hatred among nationalists, since they are well aware that their own language and culture are uncompetitive. Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian are the languages of small and shrinking nations. Their writers, poets, artists and directors are virtually unknown outside of these countries, and the content they produce is of no interest even to many of their fellow countrymen. The nationalists themselves openly admit that their language and culture have a chance to survive only if the path is cleared for them by strict bans on everything Russian. That’s why they do it – sometimes to the point of complete absurdity. There are many examples – elderly people with Russian citizenship, who have lived their entire lives in Latvia, are forced to take an exam in the Latvian language, and if they fail, they are deported. A little girl in kindergarten was forced by her teacher to do squats ten times for every word spoken in Russian in the presence of other children. In Riga last year, the monument to Pushkin was dismantled. A ban has been introduced on the study of Russian in schools, even if it has the status of a foreign language. There is even a ban on performances in Russian in puppet theaters. And recently in the Latvian Daugavpils, a predominantly Russian-speaking city, the police opened cases against seven citizens who sang “Katyusha” in chorus on a bus. However, you can look at the situation from a different angle. No matter how much the Baltic authorities try to suppress the Russian language, it is still alive and spreading – and yes, sometimes we have the immigrants themselves to thank for this. The same director Krymov, having received a refusal from the Latvian National Theater, agreed to another location in Riga. Or the other day there was an intense concert of the foreign group “Bi-2” – they sang, of course, songs in Russian. The nationalists gnashed their teeth in anger, but could not do anything – after all, Bi-2 is “fighters against the Kremlin regime,” and its lead singer is recognized in Russia as a foreign agent. At the festival organized by Laima Vaikule in Jurmala, many displaced singers performed, and many Latvians were present, who were again forced to listen to songs in Russian; Even with the “school reforms” launched in Latvia and Estonia (under this name the liquidation of Russian schools is hidden), not everything is so smooth. Thus, the Estonian publication Postimees writes with pain that as soon as Russian children enter an Estonian language class, soon the entire class begins to speak Russian. In this regard, former Minister of Education Tõnis Lukas expresses concern that “instead of immersing Russian children in the Estonian language, we are faced with the fact that Estonian children are immersed in a Russian-speaking environment.” When children of different nationalities study in the same school, Russian becomes the language of communication, and this does not at all meet the goals of “educational reforms” in the Baltic. Russian is the language of communication between generations in all the Baltic countries, so it remains in demand. Nikita Demyanovhttps://vz.ru Subscribe to our Telegram channel so as not to miss all the most important materials that we publish: https://t.me/russiapost
Russophobes and foreign agents became the leaders of the Russian world in the Baltic states. Nikita Demyanov
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