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Sovereign Uncertainty and the Dangers to Liberalism at the Baltic Frontier

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2019

Neringa Klumbytė
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Abstract

A war frontier in Lithuania was engendered by the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in March of 2014 and the beginning of the undeclared war in eastern Ukraine. This essay explores how the new war frontier emerged in Lithuania, becoming an integral part of the public sphere and civic life. I argue that the war frontier is a social institution of sovereign uncertainty, which engenders divisive politics of historical justice, protection of the majority’s rights, and dangers to liberalism. The geopolitical insecurity and sovereign uncertainty that define this Baltic frontier are essential to understand how Lithuania can be a strong ally of NATO and the EU, a proponent of democratic politics and liberalism, a claimant to regional security expertise to lead western countries, and at the same time undermine liberal ideals of tolerance, multiculturalism, and pluralism.

Information

Type
Critical Discussion Forum: New War Frontiers and the End of Postsocialism
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 78 , Issue 2 , Summer 2019 , pp. 336 - 347
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies 2019 

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Footnotes

I would like to thank Catherine Wanner, Nancy Ries, Vasiliki Neofotistos, Liene Ozoliņa, Emily Channell-Justice, Dace Dzenovska, Bruce Grant, László Kürti, Serguei Oushakine, Gulnaz Sharafutdinova, and Giedrius Subačius, whose comments and ideas contributed to shaping my arguments.

References

1. This article is based on the research conducted for the collaborative project “Social and Historical Justice: Ethnic and Generational Perspective” funded by the Lithuanian Research Council (LIP-031/2016). I use the term “Baltic frontier” since all three Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, can be defined by similar political developments; on Latvia see Liene Ozoliņa, in this Forum. This essay covers primarily the period of 2016–17; it has been updated in November 2018.

2. Mead, Margaret, “Warfare is Only an Invention—Not a Biological Necessity,” in Hunt, Douglas, ed., The Dolphin Reader, 2nd edition (Boston, 1990): 415–21Google Scholar, at http://users.metu.edu.tr/utuba/Mead.pdf (accessed April 7, 2018).

3. See Rayyan Sabet-Parry and wire reports, “Lithuania President calls Russia “terrorist state,’” The Baltic Times, November 20, 2014, at http://www.baltictimes.com/news/articles/35799/ (accessed May 7, 2018).

4. The Russian Federation under President Boris Yeltsin recognized the independence of Baltic countries in 1991.

5. See State Security Department of the Republic of Lithuania, National Threat Assessment 2018 (Vilnius, 2018), 33, at https://www.vsd.lt/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/ENG.pdf (accessed November 11, 2018).

6. See Press announcements, President of the Republic of Lithuania, “Hibridinėms grėsmėms—griežtesnis ES atsakas” (In Response to Hybrid Threats, A Stronger EU Response), October 18, 2018, at https://www.lrp.lt/lt/spaudos-centras/pranesimai-spaudai/31137 (accessed November 11, 2018).

7. A version with cartoons, “Prepare to Survive Emergencies and War: A Cheerful Take on Serious Recommendations,” Ministry of National Defense, 2015, is available online. For a discussion of manuals in English, see The Guardian news article, “Ready for Russia: Lithuanians Taught How to Resist Invasion,” December 5, 2016, at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/dec/05/ready-for-russia-lithuanians-taught-how-to-resist-invasion (accessed November 11, 2018).

8. LRT E. Jakilaitis’ program “Dėmesio centre. Pilietinės pasipriešinimo galimybės Lietuvoje” (The Center of Attention: Potential Civic Resistance in Lithuania), April 4, 2018, 21:19, at https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/1013688390/demesio-centre-pilietinio-pasipriesinimo-galimybes-lietuvoje (accessed April 10, 2018). See also Ramonaitė, Ainė et al. , Kas eitų ginti Lietuvos? (Who Would Defend Lithuania?) (Vilnius, 2018)Google Scholar.

9. Ramonaitė, Ainė et al. , Kas eitų ginti Lietuvos? (Who Would Defend Lithuania?) (Vilnius, 2018)Google Scholar.

10. The film with English subtitles is available at http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2017/02/waiting-invasion-170214101245958.html (accessed May 10, 2018).

11. The castle of Gediminas is the foremost state and historic symbol of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The song is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so9OFNVx2xY (accessed May 17, 2018).

12. The Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian SSR Supreme Soviets declared independence in 1990.

13. Anušauskas, Arvydas, Teroras 1940–1958 m. (Terror 1940–1958) (Vilnius, 2012), 280Google Scholar.

14. Ibid., 280.

15. See Lithuanian Foreign Ministry Facebook page, October 5, 2018, at https://www.facebook.com/urministerija/videos/329404531154376/ (accessed November 5, 2018).

16. See NATO website, published July 11, 2017, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5rQFp7FF9c (accessed November 5, 2017).

17. Ibid.

18. Such an opinion was expressed by Maria Zakharova, Director of the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information and Press Department, on her Facebook page, on July 12, 2017.

19. According to the Department of National Minorities under the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, in Lithuania, in 2011, minorities constituted 16% of the population, including Poles 6.5%, Russians 5.8%, Belorussians 1.2%, etc.

20. See Vaidas Saldžiūnas, “Spec. Tyrimas: ką darytų Lietuvos rusai ir lenkai, jei Kremlius pultų Baltijos šalis?” (Special Investigation: If the Kremlin attacked the Baltic countries, what would Lithuanian Russians and Poles do?), DELFI, August 8, 2016, at http://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/lithuania/spec-tyrimas-ka-darytu-lietuvos-rusai-ir-lenkai-jei-kremlius-pultu-baltijos-salis.d?id=71971382 (accessed May 17, 2018); see also Monika Frėjutė-Rakauskienė 2015 “Žiniasklaidoje vyraujančios tematikos apie tautines grupes 2014–2015 m. apžvalga” (Review of Themes on the National Minorities in 2014–2015 Media Coverage), (2015), 36–37. In: Lietuvoje gyvenančių tautinėms mažumoms priklausančių asmenų padėties tyrimo ir rezultatų analizės ataskaita (The Report on Research and Analysis of Results on the Condition of National Minority Individuals who Live in Lithuania), at https://tmde.lrv.lt/uploads/tmde/documents/files/2_%20%C5%BDiniasklaidos%20turinio%20tyrimo%20ATASKAITA.pdf (accessed May 17, 2018).

21. Neringa Klumbytė, “Bipolinės istorinio teisingumo struktūros ir politinė atskirtis. Lietuvos rusakalbių prisiminimai apie Antrąjį pasaulinį karą Lietuvos ir Rusijos istorijos politikos kontekste” (“Political Exclusion and Bipolar Structures of Historical Justice: Memories of WWII among Lithuanian Russian-Speakers in the Context of the Politics of History in Lithuania and Russia”), Sociologija. Mintis ir veiksmas vol. 2, no. 41 (2017): 136–67.

22. Ibid.

23. See Klumbytė, “Bipolinės istorinio”; Hayden, Robert, “Justice as Unfairness,” Perspectives on Europe vol. 44, no. 1 (Spring 2014): 16–23Google Scholar.

24. See Aistė Meidutė, “Vanagaitė įkvėpė Kremlių: aukština NKVD smogikus ir vėl šmeižia partizanų vadus” (Vanagaitė Inspired the Kremlin: Celebration of the NKVD Gunmen and Defaming the Partisan Leaders Again). DELFI, July 23, 2018 at https://www.delfi.lt/news/daily/demaskuok/vanagaite-ikvepe-kremliu-aukstina-nkvd-smogikus-ir-vel-smeizia-partizanu-vadus.d?id=78541305 (accessed November 11, 2018).

25. During the Nazi period (1941–44), 195,196 or over 95% of Lithuanian Jews were killed; more than 80% were killed in Lithuania, see Anušauskas, Arvydas et al. , Lietuva 1940–1990: Okupuotos Lietuvos istorija (Lithuania in 1940–1990: The History of Occupied Lithuania) (Vilnius, 2005), 222Google Scholar.

26. Margaret Mead, “Warfare is Only an Invention—Not a Biological Necessity.”