BALTIC STATES

Baltic States: translation

The Baltic States, in the context of post-Soviet Russia, traditionally refers to the former Soviet republics ofEstonia,Latvia, andLithuania(though less often, the term is used to describe all countries washed by theBaltic Sea, includingFinland,Poland, Sweden, Denmark,Germany, and Russia itself). The post-Soviet Baltic States, includingKaliningrad Oblast, were annexed by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) during World War II.Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania had all been part of theRomanovEmpire, but—along with Finland—these states gained their independence with the collapse of theancien régime. TheUnited Statesand most of itsCold Warallies refused to recognize these states’ admission to the USSR asunion republicsin the 1940s, allowing the Baltic States’ pre–World War II leadership to maintain diplomatic missions in exile in many Western countries. Duringperestroika, national revival movements exploded in the three republics, often coordinating with one another on linguistic, cultural, and economic policy. Led by Lithuania, the region’s struggle for independence and the Kremlin’s sometimes-violent suppression of the nationalist movement hurtMikhailGorbachev’s international standing in the late Soviet period. In 1991, the three republics voted to cut ties to Moscow, initiating thedissolution of the Soviet Union. In the post-Soviet period, these states have had a particularly complicated relationship with the Russian Federation, evidenced by their resolute refusal to join theCommonwealth of Independent Statesor any other Russia-dominated political or economic bloc. Additional problems stemmed from the three countries’ move to join theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO), economic disputes related tooilandnatural gaspipelines, and the discrimination ofethnic Russiansin the newly independent republics. The Baltic States, along with Poland, have sought to use their membership in theEuropean Unionand NATO to constrain Russian actions, which they view as neo-imperial violations of their national sovereignty.

See alsoEstonian cyberwar; Foreign relations; Near abroad; Russian language.