The so-called ‘Russian question’ is one of the painful points in the social sphere of the Baltic countries, and that is why it becomes particularly acute in the pre-election period, when the struggle for votes begins, including for Russian-speaking voters, the analyst of Vestnik Kavkaza, Yevgeniya Svatukhina said today in the National Question program on Vesti FM.
According to the expert, an example of the aggravation of the ‘Russian question’ is the situation with the Harmony party that won in October at the parliamentary elections in Latvia (19.91% with a turnout of 54%) and the leadership of which has repeatedly been accused of ‘the pro-Russian course’.
"The Harmony’s leader Nils Ushakovs has repeatedly stressed that such an assessment does not correspond to reality. According to him, the goal of the party is the struggle against nationalism on both sides,’’ Yevgeniya Svatukhina said.
She recalled that during the previous elections, the Harmony party also managed to get the majority of seats in the Sejm, but failed to create a coalition. “Then the rest of the parties that got to the parliament preferred to group with any other partners, forcing the Harmony to become the opposition. Even the adjustment of the course did not save the party - Ushakovs took the pro-Ukrainian position on the Crimean issue. And the last year, the party canceled a cooperation agreement with the United Russia party, the analyst of Vestnik Kavkaza said.
She clarified, that now, after the failure of a possible Harmony’s ally The Latvian Russian Union (LKS), Harmony actually turned out to be in isolation, and the leader of the LKS, Tatyana Zhdanoka, was excluded from participation in the elections on charges that she allegedly represents ‘a threat to the independence of Latvia and the principles of a legal democratic state’.
“Thus, the parties trying to at least offer solutions to the ‘Russian question’ in Latvia and Estonia either stop their political life or are forced to accept the rules of the game of the nationalist elites,” Yevgeniya Svatukhina concluded.
