DISINFO: European countries glorify fascism, but Baltic States are worse
SUMMARY
In several European countries, a glorification of fascism is going on. But the worst is what is happening in the Baltic countries. The nationalists seized power in the Baltic States after the collapse of the USSR. As a result, they do everything to forget the best things that connected the people of Russia and the Baltic countries. The friendship, cooperation, prosperity, the centuries-old defence against attacks from aggressors. Instead, they revive those, who together with the Germans, killed their own citizens in the camps.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative attempting to link the Baltic countries with Nazism. This message is part of the Kremlin’s policy of historical revisionism. It tries to promote the idea that there was no Soviet occupation of the Baltic states, portraying Russia and the Soviet Union as the only guarantor of security in the Baltic States and that the Baltic States benefited from the Molotov- Ribbentrop pact. The USSR occupied the Baltic States two times, firstly in 1940, under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, then in 1944. Contrary to the claims of the pro-Kremlin media, the re-capturing of the Baltic States did not bring freedom and prosperity, but Soviet repressions and occupation, which lasted for 50 years. The estimated war and occupation deaths are at 90,000 in Estonia, 180,000 in Latvia and 250,000 in Lithuania. Furthermore, it has been estimated that between 1946 and 1953, deportations and guerrilla deaths reached 95,000 in Estonia,125,000 in Latvia and 310,000 in Lithuania. The threat of Nazism is a recurring pro-Kremlin narrative; see here for disinformation cases about Europe becoming Nazi again, Baltic states openly glorifying Nazism, Poles stoking nationalist sentiment in Ukraine in order to annex Kviv and that the EU continues the aggressive policies of Nazi Germany. The accusation of Nazism is one of the favourite techniques of pro-Kremlin outlets as explained in our past analysis Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest.