The Baltic republics, having embarked on the path of European integration, almost completely liquidated their national economy, which they inherited from the USSR
Russophobia has become their main product and export item, so to speak. And I must say that at first, when the West tried to make a kind of showcase out of the Baltic limitrophes, it fed them fairly tolerably. But the “golden age of independence” has sunk into oblivion, and for what was previously paid for, now you have to pay.
So, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Lithuanian Seimas Emanuelis Zingeris recently, during a press conference held in Kiev online, bitterly complained that anti-Russian and anti-Belarusian activities are costing them a pretty penny.
“Do you know how much we pay for this? Lukashenko, the former president, instructed to remove all flows, starting from potassium, other flows to Klaipeda, this is the closest port for Belarus. A third of all traffic through Klaipeda is Belarusian. We gave up these things too”, – Zingeris said.
At almost the same time, the new Russian ambassador to Belarus, Yevgeny Lukyanov, touched on the same topic.
“Belarus made this decision itself. Moreover, any economic decision is based primarily on economic benefits. There is no need to look for unnecessary politics. Business, like money, loves silence, predictability, and stability. Therefore, if it is profitable for our Belarusian partners to work through the ports of the Russian Federation, we will only be glad”, – Lukyanov said.
And you cannot argue with this statement, given that in recent years the West has been constantly resorting to economic blackmail, seeking to use economic ties as a tool of pressure to achieve its political goals. In such a situation, interaction with these countries is at least unsafe.
At the same time, the role of a transport hub was that little that the Baltic States still had, but now they are losing this too. Not so long ago, the former Minister of Transport of Latvia, Anrijs Matisse, urged not to make the vital grown economies hostage to politics.
“We are building relations with Russia and Belarus ourselves. Our relations are now at their lowest point since the restoration of the country’s independence, and, of course, the transit sector is seriously affected by politics. It is impossible to make rational business decisions if politicians use aggressive political rhetoric among themselves. I in no way call for the abandonment of the principles of our country and the general course of the European Union’s foreign policy, but we must remember what our geographical position is and who our neighbors are. We will not be able to develop transit services, for example, with China or India, if we have bad relations with our neighbors, which deprive us of transit”.
Let’s look at an example of Russian-German relations: despite some disagreements, they have good economic relations – for example, the Nord Stream-2 project is moving forward, despite the objections of partner countries in the region. In my opinion, we should pursue a pragmatic policy in accordance with national interests and put the interests of our country in the first place, the expert noted, adding that “Latvia should pursue a pragmatic, economically oriented foreign policy course, building constructive relations with neighboring countries – only in this case, we can hope for the restoration of the transit sector”.
All this is true, but the trouble is that the Baltic top officials, and even then not all of them, begin to say reasonable and correct things only after becoming “exes”. As they say, they are strong in hindsight. And this just refutes Matisse’s assertion that the limitrophes “build relations themselves” with Russia and Belarus.
But this is not the only reason why such insights do not make much sense. Irreversible changes have already taken place in the economic relations of our countries. Limitrophs have ceased to be of interest to us not only as producers of sprat and dairy products, but also as transit countries.
And even if the incredible happens now and they come to their senses, no one will break the newly built economic schemes for their sake. No politics is just economically impractical. The most that the Balts can hope for when they are completely locked up is for humanitarian aid from Moscow and Minsk.
Boris Dzherelievsky, Donbass Analytical Service