Ekaterina Vinnik on Vesti.FM: Lithuania’s cultural opposition to everything Russian is a part of the political succession   

An analyst of the news agency Vestnik Kavkaza, Ekaterina Vinnik, told Vesti.FM radio channel in the National Question program dedicated to the issue of Lithuania’s cultural opposition to Russia, about the genesis of this hostility, explaining it by political succession.

“In my opinion, the cultural opposition of the Baltic countries, in particular, Lithuania, should not be surprising in our time, because here we are talking about the political succession. From the very beginning of its inception and development, the Lithuanian state almost never represented an integral structure, but constantly fell under the influence of neighboring states. Thus, at the beginning of the 13th century, the lands of Balts pagans were conquered by the crusader knights. And at that time the prince Mindovg, who united many Lithuanian lands, converted to Christianity, and after a few years disowned it. In this period, the trend of Lithuanian cultural and political inconstancy began, ”she said.

“During the existence of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which lasted for more than five centuries, Slavic lands, many times larger than Lithuania’s own in size and population, were annexed by the state. As a result, the Lithuanian princes adopted the Orthodox culture and the Western Russian language, which became the official one, while Lithuanian itself remained unwritten until the 16th century. In the 16th century, a union was concluded with Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. In Lithuania. The political system known as gentry democracy was formed upon the Polish model, the Polish language, culture and identity were also adopted, ”Ekaterina Vinnik recalled.

“In the 18th century, Rzeczpospolita and, accordingly, Lithuania, fell under the influence of the Russian Empire. In every way resisting Russification, the Lithuanian nobility took the side of Napoleon. During World War I, by 1915, all the ethnic lands of Lithuania were controlled by Germany. Lithuanians lost all political rights. After World War I, part of the territory of Lithuania was controlled by Poland, and part by France. Germany also had its own claims to the territory of the state, ”the analyst of the Vestnik Kavkaza said, drawing attention to the fact that during the Soviet period, Lithuania was under the influence of the Russian language and culture for less than 50 years.

“Thus, it is obvious that throughout almost whole its history, Lithuania, being influenced by neighboring states, took over their political and cultural traditions. And at this stage, in the 21st century, the tendency towards Europeanization turned out to be stronger than towards Russification. As a result, we are witnessing the active anti-Russian policy of Lithuania, which may eventually change to the opposite, depending on the political context, ” Ekaterina Vinnik concluded.