Study Document
Baltic EU Russia, the Baltic Essay
Pages:6 (1890 words)
Sources:9
Document Type:Essay
Document:#58495235
A core weakness in the current dynamic seems to be the laxity of enforcement on the part of the EU with respect to this issue of citizenship. According to EU Facts, "although they had to improve their citizenship process in order to join the EU in 2004, a significant proportion of the population (10% of Estonians and 19% of Latvians) have still not been given these rights. Relations with Russia are critical to all three countries." (p. 1)
Today, there is an opportunity to force reconsideration of Russian relations for the Baltic States. As the global recession spreads through the EU and imposes heavy burdens upon the three states in question, leaders are being forced to reconsider the unilateral approach that has caused such problematic dependency on a struggling economic coalition.
The greatest threat to the critical relations between Russia and the Baltics is the cultural tension which exists between the Soviet dimensions of Baltic identity and its push toward Europeanization. Excluded from this process are the many Russian ethnic groups denied citizenship in the Baltic States. As Herd & Lofgren (2001) point out, "the process of Sovietization and the way in which migration and horizontal and vertical competition created tensions and stresses between societies in the Baltic States then carried over into and shaped the first decade of restored independence." (p. 273) The offshoot is that a failure of the Baltic States to resolve its treatment of Russian ethnic groups is a threat to any future common ground between the states.
Conclusion:
The Baltic States must work to resolve the citizenship issues that current drive tensions between the nations. With respect to both Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), Russia and the Baltic States have a concrete interest in gaining Russian ethnic groups equal citizenship and rights in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
Works Cited:
Bajarunas, E.; Haab, M. & Viksne, I. (1995). The Baltic States: Security and Defence After Independence. Chaillot Papers, 19.
Buhbe, M. & Kempe, I. (2005). Russia, the EU and the Baltic States: Enhancing the Potential for Cooperation. Batic Centre for Russian Studies.
EU Facts. (2010). Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Civitas.
Herd, G.P. & Lofgren, J. (2001). 'Societal Security', the Baltic States and EU Integration. Cooperation and Conflict, 36(3), 273-296.…
Sample Source(s) Used
Works Cited:
Bajarunas, E.; Haab, M. & Viksne, I. (1995). The Baltic States: Security and Defence After Independence. Chaillot Papers, 19.
Buhbe, M. & Kempe, I. (2005). Russia, the EU and the Baltic States: Enhancing the Potential for Cooperation. Batic Centre for Russian Studies.
EU Facts. (2010). Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Civitas.
Herd, G.P. & Lofgren, J. (2001). 'Societal Security', the Baltic States and EU Integration. Cooperation and Conflict, 36(3), 273-296.
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