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Post by TsarSamuil on Dec 2, 2011 12:09:14 GMT -5
Vid, rt.com/news/estonia-russian-language-ban-635/Language inquisition: Estonia gets tough on Russian speakers. RT.com 1 December, 2011, 13:24  In a bid to escape its Soviet past, Estonia is forcing people to speak the local native language or risk losing their jobs. But the law, aimed at establishing a national identity, threatens to silence the Baltic state’s large Russian minority. The social ad on a TV urges the Russian minority in Estonia to learn Estonian – in a rather amusing fashion. A Russian-speaking fisherman catches a magic fish. It promises – in Estonian – to fulfill all his wishes, but he does not understand the language and dumps it. But the reality is no joke at all. “All state officials are obliged to know Estonian in the course of their work. This is written in our language law. It also applies to people working in the majority of public services,” Mikhail Kilvart, deputy mayor of Tallinn. Just like other post-Soviet Baltic states, Estonia has its own language inspectorate – a body which oversees how the language law is being observed. At times, laying that law down quite harshly. According to the Language Inspectorate, the so-called the “language police”, have been examining the use of Estonian in the everyday work of Narva authorities from October to November. They discovered that Narva City Council was conducting most of its meetings in Russian. The language inspection has the legal right to conduct spontaneous checks on anyone working in any sphere. And should a person fail the Estonian exam, the body then may initiate the sacking of this employee. Human rights activists say this has turned the language inspection into a punitive body. It is not that they have nothing to say, it is just that they believe their voices are being silenced. Estonia’s 300,000-strong Russian minority has been protesting at what they describe as a “language inquisition”. Some of these people have either lost their jobs or are under threat of doing so, simply because they are forbidden from speaking their native language. “The so-often-cursed Soviet power never applied any restrictions on languages. Estonians were free to educate in their language. Nowadays the authorities have almost banned Russian from schools. Besides, some Russian communities don’t have qualified teachers who can teach physics or chemistry in Estonian,” Sergey Tseulin, “NochnoiDozor” (NightWatch) movement, leader In the latest twist, five workers at an orphanage were fired for not being able to speak Estonian to the children. That is in a town, where 96 per cent of the population are ethnic Russians. “I don’t want to sound rude, but as long as we live in this country we have to live by the law. And I fired those people because they had been warned, but did nothing,” Mare Vialja, director of the Narva orphanage. Human rights activists acknowledge the rule of law, but stress that in the language case it is not applied properly. “The law doesn’t observe any difference between Narva – where almost everyone sees Russian as their native language – and other parts, where most of the people speak Estonian. And with such disproportion we can talk of direct language discrimination and indirect ethnic discrimination,” said Vadim Poleschuk, a human rights activist. Activists in another Baltic state, Latvia, have been gathering signatures on holding a referendum to make Russian the second state language. And many say they have a strong chance of pushing it through. Estonia, despite being criticized by Amnesty International for its language policy, is adamant. And it seems the Russian minority will not catch the magic fish granting their every wish anytime soon. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Dec 15, 2011 12:47:45 GMT -5
Poland Lifts Visas for Russian Exclave Kaliningrad.
Novinite.com
World | December 14, 2011, Wednesday| 437 views
Residents of Poland's north-eastern border regions and the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad will soon be able to travel back and forth without visas, according to a Polish-Russian agreement sealed Wednesday.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov signed a deal Wednesday regulating border traffic between their countries' neighboring regions, at a ceremony in Moscow, DPA reported.
Lavrov declared that Russia hopes the agreement, due to go into effect in 2012, will pave the way for a complete abolition of visas required for almost all travellers between Russia and the European Union - of which Poland is a member, as cited by the Interfax news agency.
The roughly 1 million residents of Russia's Kalinigrad province will be able obtain a transit pass under the deal, allowing them to travel into Poland.
At the same time, Poles living in border regions near Kaliningrad, including residents of the city of Gdansk, will likewise be allowed to visit the Russian territory visa-free for up to 30 days.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jan 19, 2012 1:02:26 GMT -5
Vote on Russian Language in Latvia an ‘Incitement’ - Berzins.
19:42 17/01/2012
RIGA, January 17 (RIA Novosti)
A possible referendum in Latvia on whether to make Russian a second state language is a “deliberate incitement,” Latvian President Andris Berzins said on Tuesday.
“Some political groups are currently using the media to turn the issue of the referendum into the main event in Latvia. I cannot and do not want to agree with such a stance as the referendum is a deliberate incitement and its result will not settle any of the important problems for the nation,” Berzins told journalists.
Russian-speakers make up 44% of Latvia's 2.3-million population. Latvian is the official state language and Russian is treated as a foreign language.
Latvia’s Central Election Commission gathered signatures last November for a petition to hold a nationwide referendum on granting Russian official-language status.
Over 187,000 eligible voters signed the petition, well above the minimum requirement of 154,379 signatures. The referendum will go ahead if the Latvian Constitutional Court does not prohibit it.
Berzins’ predecessor, Valdis Zatlers, has not been opposed to a referendum. If one is held, he urged Latvian citizens to vote against making Russian a second state language.
“Having the majority of the referendum participants vote against this initiative is the way to demonstrate that Latvian has always been the only language in Latvia,” the former president said.
Last month President Berzins introduced a draft law to the parliament that envisioned amendments to the Constitution introducing a second state language in the country. Lawmakers rejected the measure.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 7, 2012 14:28:07 GMT -5
Vid, rt.com/news/russian-latvia-language-referendum-559/Too Russian to have rights? Latvia to vote on 'alien' language. RT.com 6 February, 2012, 11:44 Latvia’s large Russian minority has given voice to its anger over escalating institutional discrimination. People are now hoping that an upcoming referendum on February 18 could see their language officially recognized. The vote is viewed by many as a first step on the long road to restoring the basic political rights of Russians in the Baltic country. Georgs Kuklis-Rosmanis, a Latvian professor at the naval academy in the capital, Riga, wants everyone in his country to have equal rights. That is why he had no second thoughts when an initiative to hold a referendum on making Russian the country’s second state language was floated. “I cannot accept the policy of treachery to my friends from the Russian minority – those who also voted for Latvia’s independence in 1991,” he told RT. “We were shoulder-to-shoulder back then, but now they are being treated like garbage – no citizenship for them and no jobs here. That’s why I signed for the referendum.” Ethnic Russians make up a third of Latvia’s population. The idea of holding a referendum on the Russian language came after what they describe as ethnic discrimination had reached a critical point. “Radical nationalists initiated their own referendum to close Russian schools in Latvia. They failed, but it was a worrying call,” says Aleksander Gaponenko of the European Studies Institute of Latvia. “That’s why we gathered signatures for our language referendum to legally protect ourselves. After we did, the ruling nationalists went hysterical and are trying to jeopardize the voting.” The minority points to a recent statement by the country’s president, Andris Berzins, which implied that voting “yes” to giving Russian official language status would mean voting against Latvia. They cite this as proof of escalating state-level discrimination. The nationalist camp has dismissed the accusation. However, they believe the vote carries a threat to the country’s sovereignty and are sending a stern warning. “We allowed these people to live on our territory after the collapse of the USSR. We said ‘you can live here under certain conditions.’ But if they’re trying to alter the foundations of our state, then we will have to be tougher and make new laws,” Imants Paradnieks of the Viesu Latvia party explains. The Latvian parliament on Thursday echoed the president by passing a statement saying that the Latvian language is the republic's only state language, with 65 deputies out of 100 having declared against Russian being granted the status of second official language. "Latvia is the only place on the globe where the Latvian culture and language can exist and develop. The Latvian language is the common language of all people inhabiting the country and is important to their participation in democratic processes and to the rallying of society," the statement says, according to Itar-Tass. And some Latvians have already started to act. Lawyer Jelena Bacinska told RT she had heard numerous reports of blackmail from people too afraid to talk on camera for fear of reprisals. “Some are already scared to go to vote. Their employer told them that should they see a stamp in the passport that they took part in the language referendum then they would immediately fire them,” she said. There are an estimated 300,000 Russian-speaking citizens in Latvia out of a population of almost two and a quarter million. Another 320,000 ethnic Russians are classed as “non-citizens” and are forbidden from voting. This ban, experts say, is likely to be critical to the outcome of the vote. Russian will become Latvia’s second state language only if at least 750,000 people vote for it. Organizers of the referendum say that realistically, they are only expecting half of that. The result would then be deemed unconstitutional, but could still put the issue on the agenda for serious debate. Latvia’s Russians hope that the referendum will get their distress call noticed in Brussels, which might then have stern words with Riga. The vote takes place on February 18th, with final official results a few days later. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Feb 19, 2012 5:55:36 GMT -5
Don't trust the Latvians to give the real figures of the vote, the numbers don't make any sense! Why is it even a vote, Macedonia didn't have a chance or choice on the Albanian language. If you are Slavic, you got NATO breathing down your neck, if you are not you can do whatever you want. This is the kind of west we have to deal with, we need to step up this century and show who is the boss in Europe! We are the majority population in Europe and own 2/3 of the land! The west only understands strength, they have no decency! --------------- Vid, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPJiGlcNxeYLatvians Vote Against State Status of Russian Language. 03:09 19/02/2012 RIGA, February 19 (RIA Novosti) In a national referendum on Saturday over 470,000 Latvians voted against granting the Russian a status of the second state language, the Latvian Central Election Commission said on Sunday. With votes counted at the 770 out 1,035 voting polls, 138,336 people voted in favor of the Russian language and 470,548 against. Russian-speakers make up 44% of Latvia's 2.3-million population. Latvian is the official state language and Russian is treated as a foreign language. Latvia’s Central Election Commission gathered signatures last November for a petition to hold a nationwide referendum on granting Russian official-language status. The move was initiated by the Native Language organization and backed by Riga Mayor Nil Ushakov. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 1, 2012 15:20:52 GMT -5
Russia Blasts Latvia’s Reverence For Nazi Legionnaires.
01:01 01/03/2012
MOSCOW, March 1 (RIA Novosti)
The recent remarks by Latvian President Andris Berzins expressing sympathy for Latvian Waffen-SS veterans are inconsistent with the status of the country as a democratic state, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Latvian President Andris Berzins said in an interview with LNT television on Tuesday that the nation should bow to its Waffen-SS veterans, many of whom died for their fatherland.
“Regretfully, consistent attempts by the Latvian leadership to rewrite history damage the image of the country as a democratic state and hamper the development of its relations with Russia,” the ministry’s spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Wednesday.
Lukashevich dismissed Latvian president’s allegation that the Soviet Union rehabilitated Latvian Legionaries in 1955.
He said the decree by the Soviet Union’s Supreme Council on September 17, 1955 pardoned Soviet citizens who had been forced to cooperate with Nazis during the occupation.
The document specifically excluded Nazi collaborators who were involved in the killing and torturing of Russian citizens.
Some 140,000 Latvian men fought against the Soviet Union on the side of Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
Former members of the Latvian Waffen SS Legion and their supporters annually hold demonstrations involving several hundred people on March 16.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 18, 2012 16:01:22 GMT -5
Russia Dismayed by U.S. Statement on 1944 Tallinn Air Raid.
15:15 16/03/2012
MOSCOW, March 16 (RIA Novosti)
Moscow has condemned a statement by the U.S. Embassy in Estonia that called the Soviet air attack on Nazi-held Tallinn in 1944 an act of "foreign occupation," the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
“It is regrettable that American diplomats in Tallinn are once again conniving in the attempts by certain powers in the Baltic States to distort the historic truth and set the Russian and Estonian people at loggerheads,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia's reaction came after the U.S. Embassy in Estonia issued a statement on March 9 announcing a ceremony commemorating the 1944 Soviet bombing of Tallinn that called the attack “tragic both in its devastating loss of life and its military inefficacy.”
Over 300 Soviet bombers raided Tallinn on March 9, 1944 in an attempt to destroy the Nazi forces occupying the city. However, the bombing mainly claimed the lives of civilians, killing over 500 people and injuring almost 700.
The attack, seen by many Estonians as an act of Russian aggression, remains one of the most controversial issues in the history of the World War II.
The U.S. statement also said the bombing failed to “break the spirit of the Estonian people,” a phrase that Moscow views with “condemnation and outrage.”
It argues the attack has been “taken out of the historical context” and that the bombing was part of Soviet military actions to liberate the Baltic States from Nazi troops, the Foreign Ministry said.
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Post by TsarSamuil on Mar 20, 2012 13:08:58 GMT -5
Polish minority takes to the streets of Vilnius.
theNews.pl
17.03.2012 18:30
Members of ethnic minorities in Lithuania, including Poles, descended on the capital, Vilnius, Saturday, to rally against plans to cut back on schooling for minorities.
“The mother tongue is a guarantor of decent knowledge,” the protestors argued as they marched from the Lithuanian parliamentary buildings to demonstrate outside government headquarters.
Children and teachers from ethnic minorities in Lithuania went on the march, and were joined by trade unionists from the Lithuanian education sector.
The protest comes one year after Vilnius passed a bill on education for ethnic minorities in Lithuania, which has been criticised by Poles living there, with other sizable ethnic minorities from Belarus and Russia facing the same problems.
The new education bill envisages that from 2013, final exams in Lithuanian language and literature will be the same for Lithuanians as for members of ethnic minorities.
Currently, the Lithuanian curriculum for ‘native’ and ‘minority’ schools is different in terms of language use.
From 1 September 2011 ethnic minority schools have had to use Lithuanian for the teaching of some geography and history for classes pertaining to the country, while “the basics for patriotic upbringing” is fully taught in Lithuanian.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian authorities are condemning the protest. Education minister Gintaras Steponavicius told the BNS agency that politicians are “amassing political gain at the cost of teachers and children.” (jb)
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 13, 2012 13:43:00 GMT -5
Vid, rt.com/news/estonia-black-list-rt-correspondent-yaroshevsky-kapo-929/RT reporter – enemy of the state in Estonia?! RT.com 12 April, 2012, 23:00 Estonia’s intelligence has been laboring hard all year long; now a sizable part of its annual report features “the Russian threat.” The threat is varied and cunning, and one of its many faces is RT – and its correspondent Aleksey Yaroshevsky. Scared? “Yo I’m famous!” Yaroshevsky tweeted upon hearing the news. A report filed by Estonia’s security police (KAPO) on Thursday gives a whole list of people, companies and nations which are considered to pose a threat to the Baltic country, both real and potential. RT and Aleksey Yaroshevsky, the chief reporter for RT’s bureau in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, line up with: - the Russian Foreign Ministry and personally FM Sergey Lavrov - major Russian broadcasters including Channel One and NTV - Tallinn Vice Mayor Mikhail Kylvart - Russian GONGOs - the NGO “World without Nazism” and its head, Boris Spiegel - the Kremlin - the USSR - WWII - the relocation of the Soviet soldier monument in Tallinn in 2007 (a move totally sponsored by Tallinn authorities themselves) The list has been published on the Delfi news website and goes on and on. Though Tallinn is known for banning journalists attempting to cover Nazi and anti-Nazi events, this is the first time the police got so personal, says Yaroshevsky. RT’s correspondent has been covering various stories ranging from the woes of the Russian minority in the Baltic country to the glorification of Nazi collaborators. Aleksey now wonders whether his angry Twitter message regarding an interview with Jürgen Ligi, the country’s finance minister, has landed him on the blacklist – in Lavrov’s company. In November, Yaroshevsky and his crew were to find out whether Estonians wished to the European Union, as some were speaking against the single currency. The country’s finance minister agreed to comment. “We came to his office,” recalls Yaroshevsky. “We waited for an hour there. Suddenly, his secretary said he did now want to give an interview. I was so much insulted by that unprofessional approach. I posted a furious tweet about it, saying this is not how it should work – being denied the interview straight up in a minister’s office. Maybe this was the reason for the Estonian authorities to blacklist me and the station.” “I am not going to say anything against Estonians – they are good people, their country’s beautiful, their food’s delicious. They are just unlucky with those on the top,” he tweets later. Russian media are out of KAPO's mercy. They unleash radical moods in Estonia, sowing discord and discontent among its nationals, the security police say quoting a shooting incident at the country’s Defense Ministry. In August 2011, an assailant, armed to the teeth, broke into the ministry to be eventually shot down by police. The only death in the incident was brought on by an officer’s bullet. According to Estonian Defense Minister Mart Laar, who spoke out shortly after the assault, the man had been influenced by “Russian propaganda.” “Considering how the controlled Russia media stigmatize Estonia as years pass… you can see what manipulation can do to people, especially when they are nonplussed and in an appropriate state,” says the KAPO report as quoted by Interfax. Overall, Estonia’s KAPO says the prospect is not good, as Russia is expected to continue scaling up intelligence and propaganda activities in the country. Still, Moscow’s actual target appears to be NATO and its allies, their “defense capabilities and development plans,” states the report. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Apr 21, 2012 18:59:16 GMT -5
I'm getting irritated of that pesky little country  -------------- Language-labeled: Estonia brands inmates ‘Nazi-style’? RT.com 21 April, 2012, 13:13 A scandal is brewing in Estonia, where inmates are reportedly labeled according to how fluent they are in the national language. The practice is reminiscent of how Nazi Germany marked Jews, homosexuals and other categories of people in death camps. Some Estonian inmates now bear the letters A, B or C on their clothes, representing the level of their language skills, says Director of the Institute of the Estonian Language Urmas Sutrop. Those barely able to communicate are labeled with “A”, “B” is reserved for those with average level, while fluent speakers are tagged with “C”. Inmates who cannot speak Estonian at all are not marked in any way, Sutrop told the Postimees newspaper, citing a letter he had received from a prisoner. The tags are an addition to the usual ID badges that inmates in Estonia have to wear. “The inmate says this is very humiliating. I asked the Justice Ministry if it was true. They said it is. They said the initiative was sponsored by the inmates themselves. I asked the language inspection and they agreed with me that such labeling is wrong. They browsed through legislation and failed to find a law that would justify such actions,” he said. Sutrop did not specify which Estonian prison labels people in that way. He stressed that the practice “is reminiscent of the Holocaust times, when Jews had a yellow Star of David attached to their chests. They branded Jews in Estonia this way from September 11, 1941.” In addition to marking the Jewish civilian population, Nazi Germany used a color-marking system at its concentration camps. Prisoners had triangles sewn to their clothes. For instance, political prisoners wore red triangles, forced laborers wore blue ones, homosexuals and rapists wore pink marks and so on. The Estonian government has been actively promoting the national language since the Baltic country became sovereign in 1991. The drive however came at a cost of alienating its large Russian-speaking minority. They either have to pass a rigorous language test to be granted citizenship or remain stateless. At the same time, use of Russian has been discouraged, provoking numerous conflicts both on everyday relations level and in the diplomatic sphere. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 11, 2012 14:06:21 GMT -5
Vid, rt.com/news/nazi-patriotic-lesson-kindergarten-latvia-012/Bring Nazi to school day? SS lesson at Latvian nursery sparks controversy (VIDEO) RT.com 11 May, 2012, 18:25  Recently released video of two men in Waffen SS uniform conducting a lesson at a Latvian kindergarten has brought on a wave of anger and debate in Latvia and abroad. The two men from the Latvian Soldier group came to Riga’s Pucite [Owlet] kindergarten to give what they called a “patriotic upbringing” lesson. The footage shows the men telling children about the heroic role of Waffen SS soldiers in the Second World War. The two, however, did not limit themselves to stories only, but brought handouts for the little listeners. The video shows the three- and four-year-olds playing with pistols, machine-guns and grenades from the WWII era. Latvia`s Minister of Education Rober Kilis has condemned the incident, urging an investigation into the circumstances of the lesson, Latvian media report. “Weapons, people in military uniform and such activity in a kindergarten are absolutely unacceptable – this is my personal point of view,” he was quoted by Delfi.lv website. The lesson is believed to have happened on March 16 – a day of commemoration of Latvian troops that joined Waffen SS forces in the fight against the Soviet Union. On that day, hundreds of Latvian Waffen SS veterans marched through the capital Riga. Moscow has repeatedly expressed outrage over such ceremonies celebrating the Nazi past. The EU has also expressed concern. The Waffen SS was a multi-ethnic and multinational military force of the Third Reich. Around 150,000 Latvians served in the Waffen SS, the Nazis' non-German regiments, during World War II. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 23, 2012 14:56:18 GMT -5
Under surveillance: Bugs found at Russian cultural center in Estonia.
RT.com
23 May, 2012, 20:41
A wiretapping device has been found in a cultural center for Russian-speaking Estonian citizens in Tallinn. The NGO is run by the mother of the city’s vice mayor, who is suspected of lobbying for Russian interests in the Baltic country.
The wiretap, discovered Tuesday, is the second such device found in the Lira cultural and sports center, after a thorough inspection carried out by center’s security.
The first eavesdropping device, which was clumsily wired into the facility’s alarm system, was found on May 15. Inspectors believe the bugs were installed between September and December 2011. The police opened an investigation but so far no official statements have been made on the issue.
Lira unites over fifty centers which organize cultural and sporting activities for Estonia's Russian-speaking population.
"We can assume who is behind this, but let the police find out everything," said the head of Lira, Lidiya Kylvart, who happens to be the mother of Tallinn's Vice Mayor Mikhail Kylvart.
Last month Mikhail Kylvart was put under the media spotlight after Estonian security police (KAPO) released a list of individuals, companies and nations which are considered to pose a threat to Estonia. Kylvart was included due to his his links to a Russian diplomat, Yury Tsvetkov. Kylvart was captured on photo handing Tsvetkov several Russian history textbooks.
Mikhail Kylvart supervises sport and educational programs in Tallinn and campaigns for the preservation of Russian language classes in Estonian schools. The vice mayor himself claims that he is a patriot of his country, and has never done anything directed against Estonian interests.
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Post by TsarSamuil on May 24, 2012 0:09:56 GMT -5
Poland rejects Lithuanian 'Russian friendship' jibe.
theNews.pl
22.05.2012 12:29
Poland's foreign minister has rejected the Lithuanian president's claim that Warsaw is making friends with Russia at the expense of her smaller neighbours.
“I cannot imagine that such a statement could be made at a time when Polish pilots are guarding the skies over the Baltic states,” said Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who is attending the NATO summit in Chicago.
“It seems to me that it would be easier to establish rights under the European Charter on Minority Languages, than to build exotic theories,” he added, referring to ongoing efforts by Lithuania's Polish minority to use Polish versions of their names in official documents.
According to the Baltic News Service (BNS), Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite made the offending remarks at a meeting in Chicago with representatives of the America's Lithuanian community.
“For some reason, Polish politicians have decided that in the short run it would be good to have a friend in Russia, and other smaller countries that are not so important can be be left as sacrificial lambs,” she is quoted as saying.
“It seems to me that this is the role envisaged for us,” she added.
Nevertheless, politicians in Vilnius have nor leapt to applaud the remarks of President Grybauskaite.
Former Lithuanian prime minister Gediminas Kirkilas, currently a member of the opposition, labelled the remarks as “careless”, in an interview with Radio Znad Willii, a Polish language service in Vilnius.
“The president's statement surprised me, along with many other politicians and analysts,” he said.
Lithuanian daily Lietuvos Rytas described Grybauskaite's declaration as “undiplomatic,” adding that the paper hoped that the statement “does not hinder the achievement of the objectives of Lithuanian foreign policy.”
In Sikorski's annual foreign policy statement this March, the Polish minister had pledged that “we will continue to work towards Polish-Russian reconciliation,” adding that “we hope that the new president of Russia will lead his country on a path of modernization, in line with the expectations of Russian society."
Poland's relations with Vilnius soured in 2011, after the failure of bilateral talks about Polish minority schools in Lithuania.
Vilnius introduced laws in September 2011 ensuring that a larger number of subjects must be taught in Lithuanian, regardless of whether schools are for ethnic minorities.
Foreign Minister Audronius Azulis commented that Lithuanians “do not need a big brother,” and that Poland should not try and influence the country's internal policies. (nh)
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jun 4, 2012 12:40:49 GMT -5
Baltic Blacklist: Professor sacked for speaking to RT. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gcs3FZICB4Jun 3, 2012 by RussiaToday Media coverage of discrimination against ethnic Russians in the Baltic Republics is fuelling a fresh row. Latvian authorities have sacked a professor, after he voiced his grievances on RT. --- Vid, www.rt.com/news/latvia-professor-estonia-report-840/Baltic blacklist: Professor sacked for speaking to RT. RT.com 2 June, 2012, 16:09 Media coverage of discrimination against ethnic Russians in the Baltic Republics is fuelling a fresh row. Latvian authorities have sacked a professor, after he voiced his grievances on RT. In February, a teacher at Riga’s naval academy, Georgs Kuklis-Rosmanis, spoke to RT, rising in defense of his friends from the Russian minority in Latvia. “I cannot accept the policy of treachery to my friends – those who also voted for Latvia’s independence in 1991,” he told RT at the time. “We were shoulder-to-shoulder back then, but now they are being treated like garbage – no citizenship for them and no jobs here. That’s why I signed for the referendum,” Kuklis-Rosmanis said, explaining to RT why he put his signature under the proposal to hold a referendum on making Russian Latvia’s second official language. The poll was held in February, but the option was rejected. And four months on, Georgs is looking for a new job. It was made clear to him by the academy’s management that his appearance on RT meant he had no future there. “My boss called me and said this interview was harmful for our future students,” he now tells RT’s Aleksey Yaroshevsky. “He made it look as if I made an act of aggression against Latvia. I told them I only spoke my mind, which I have a constitutional right to do. Later, my colleagues told me the academy’s rector ordered the HR department to find a reason to sack me after the summer exams.” Sadly enough, Georgs is not the only one to face repressions. A top-level politician from another Baltic country – Estonia – also commented on one of RT’s stories on the country’s ban on Russian. And also found himself targeted by the authorities. The deputy mayor of Tallinn, Mikhail Kylvart, was surprised to see himself on the 2011 annual report put together by Estonia’s security police (KAPO), outlining actual and potential threats to national security. He decided to take action. “I was blacklisted because of my activities to protect and preserve Russian schools here,” he explained to RT. “The security police believe this could violate Estonia’s sovereignty. I have a different opinion and that’s why I filed a lawsuit against the organization. For me it’s not only about clearing my name, but to stop dangerous tendencies which undermine democracy in my country.” That list also contained almost all Russian TV stations – including RT and its correspondent Aleksey Yaroshevsky. It also had Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, an anti-fascist activist from Finland and a dozen NGOs. Member of Estonia’s parliament Jana Tooma – also one of the names on the blacklist – wrote a letter to Estonia’s prime minister demanding answers. She believes such actions are illegal. “We’re not at war with Russia or anyone else, that’s why we have no grounds to blacklist any organizations or channels,” she explained to RT. “The security police have been writing these reports for many years, but this time they have crossed a certain line. I read their rules and they say this organization is only responsible for gathering information and intel, not publishing it to influence the public opinion.” In the two decades since independence, the Baltic States have been trying hard to bury their communist past. Ironically, putting people on blacklists was one of the methods used by the Soviet special services. So with more people being scrutinized for speaking their minds, the desire of the Baltic countries to follow a democratic path may be called into question. Those who have found themselves under pressure from the authorities for speaking out to the media say they are especially surprised things like that happen in modern-day Europe. They say they never wanted to harm their homeland and want democracy to prevail after all. |
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Post by TsarSamuil on Jun 9, 2012 10:12:18 GMT -5
Friends with Russia? You're on blacklist for Estonia! (investigative report)
Jun 9, 2012 by RussiaToday
After being branded a threat to national security' by Estonia, RT's Eastern European correspondent Alexey Yaroshevsky traveled to Tallinn to try and get an explanation. Along with a number of Russian and Estonian politicians, he was put on a blacklist by security police after a series of reports about some of the country's policies. Here's Alexey's investigation into the events.
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