5 Reasons Why Leftists Should Defend Russia | New Eastern Outlook

[NuclearDem]

149. Baby steps.

Russia's already starting to bully some of their closer former victims:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/ukraine-crisis-inhabitants-of-the-baltic-states-fear-that-they-will-be-next-in-the-firingline-10058085.html

Officials and residents alike fear that after annexing Crimea from Ukraine and assisting a rebellion in the east of the country that is steadily undermining its government in Kiev, Moscow may soon turn its eye to other states where a sizeable minority is ethnically or linguistically Russian.

...

Not only does Latvia have one of the largest minorities of Russian speakers in any European state, but the Kremlin has long accused it of suppressing the rights of its Russian speakers – some 300,000 of whom are officially considered stateless, and thus may neither vote nor hold government positions.
The British Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, warned there was a “real and present danger” that Russia was trying to destabilise the Baltic states. In Riga yesterday Raimonds Vejonis, Latvia’s defence minister, said: “The EU and Nato will not be surprised if Russia intends to do something like that. We are ready, and will be ready to react.”

http://uk.mobile.reuters.com/article/idUKKBN0JZ08F20141221?irpc=932

KYBARTAI, Lithuania (Reuters) - Geopolitics plague Lithuanians at this frozen Russian border post, where a return trip by car can mean 48 hours of queuing. It is a reminder for some of why the former Soviet republic will cement its move to the West by joining the euro zone next month.

Tensions with Moscow have simmered ever since Lithuania became the first republic to declare independence from the Soviet Union in 1990, although only 6 percent of the population are Russian speakers, far fewer than in its Baltic neighbours.

...

Russia’s move into Ukraine has awoken fears the Baltics could be next. NATO has scrambled its jets over 150 times this year after Russian sorties, three times more than last year. Moscow held surprise military exercises in Kaliningrad in December with 9,000 troops and 55 ships.

Russian sanctions have hit Lithuania's transport sector, which employs around 100,000, as well as its dairy industry.

http://m.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-29111188

Russia appears to be reopening criminal investigations against Lithuanians who refused to serve in the Soviet armed forces after the country declared independence nearly 25 years ago.

The Lithuanian prosecutor-general's office says Russia has asked for legal assistance over Lithuanians who defied orders to do their Soviet military service in 1990-91, the Delfi news portal reports. But the request was denied, a spokeswoman says, since it does not involve a criminal offence in Lithuania. The news has prompted Lithuanian security services to strongly advise the relevant people not to go to Russia or other non-EU and non-Nato countries for now. Doing so could "jeopardise the personal safety of citizens", they say.

After Lithuania declared independence from the USSR in March 1990, more than 1,500 young men obeyed a call from pro-independence leaders not to join the Soviet military, according to official figures. Almost everyone went into hiding, but dozens of people were jailed or forcibly drafted. Outstanding cases were dropped after the USSR's collapse.

There is reportedly rising concern among Lithuanians that Russia is adopting a more assertive stance towards former Soviet countries. Adding to the tensions, a Russian national was arrested in March in Lithuania in connection with the 1991 attack by Soviet forces on the Vilnius TV tower, in which 14 people died.