Russia has filed search and arrest complaints against the leaders and leaders of the Baltic countries and Poland, i.eincluding Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallaswhich he accuses of “insulting Russian history”.
It is the first time that Russia has issued an arrest warrant against a ruler who has been in office since the start of his military offensive in Ukraine two years ago. This operation strained the Kremlin’s relations with its neighbors, many of which belonged to the defunct Soviet Union or the former Eastern Bloc.
“These people are responsible for decisions that are de facto an insult to history, people who carry out hostile actions against historical memory, against our country,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, fearing Moscow’s military ambitions, consider the Soviet Union an occupying power. However, Russia claims its troops freed it from Nazi Germany’s invasion and calls any other opinion “falsification of history,” a crime in the country.
According to a statement posted on the Russian Interior Ministry website on Tuesday Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas is being investigated in a “criminal case”., without specifying what crime she is accused of. Estonian Foreign Minister Taimar Peterkop and Lithuanian Culture Minister Simonas Kairys are also subject to similar orders.
According to the Russian news agency TASS The list also includes the director of the Polish National Institute of Remembrance, Karol Nawrocki, the mayor of the Polish city of Wałbrzych, Roman Szełemej, and the Polish deputy foreign minister Karol Rabenda.
“The (Russian) regime is doing what it has always done: it is trying to suppress freedom (…) and continues to create its own version that contradicts the facts,” Lithuanian Minister Simonas Kairys said in a statement.
Prime Minister Kaja Kallas denounced “regular intimidation tactics” by Russia.
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, members of the European Union and NATO, have Russian minorities that Moscow says are oppressed. lRelations between Russia and the Baltic states were further strained by the conflict in Ukrainesupported by the Baltics and Poland, which, like Russia’s other western neighbors, are strengthening their military capabilities out of fear of attack.
For years, Russia has denounced the dismantling of numerous Soviet-era monuments in the Baltic countries. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out the idea of invading Poland or Latvia, two countries he said Russia had “no interest” in. There have been further signs of tension between Moscow and the Baltic states in recent weeks.
On February 6th Russia has summoned the charge d’affaires of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and accused them of “sabotage”. the Russian presidential elections in March by refusing to ensure the security of polling stations in Russian embassies on its territory. And in January, Latvia and Estonia terminated their mutual legal assistance agreements with Russia, citing the Ukraine mission as a reason.
dmr