Introduction
In this paper I am going to give an overview and comparison of the following to countries – Russia and Latvia. When Russia is on the fourth place in the list of the most influential countries according to USN, then Latvia is on the 78th place. That should give us a brief understanding that these two countries are not much alike when it comes to international relations.
One important factor in every country’s international relations is historical background. That is why in the chapter I will be covering both Latvian and Russina history to fully understand why these countries are a bit alike and how they differ from each other.
In the second chapter I will give a brief overview of what countries look like today. I will also add some examples of diplomatic connections between Latvia and Russia. That helps understand how these two countries are connected to each other and also it gives us two totally different examples of how a post-Soviet country is functioning in the 21st century.
The third chapter consists of the main problems the two countries have, both internationally and nationally. This paints a picture that Latvia and Russia stand somewhat on the opposite sides.
History
Latvia is a remotely young country, because it was only after the Russian Revolution of 1917, that Latvia declared its independence on November 18, 1918. In 1940 started Soviet Russia governing Latvia and after that became Latvia independent again in 1991. When we are considering everything mentioned above, we can say that Latvia has been independent for only about 50 years total. Additionally, Latvia had to start over as an independent state in 1991 and had to build up a country which was ravaged by Soviet Union to keep up with other western countries. It was hard both politically and economically.
Russia on the contrary, is a much older country. The first major East Slavic state was ruled by Vikings in the first century AD. After Vikings rule, was today’s Russia invaded by Mongols and it was in 1480 when Ivan III freed Russia from the Mongols, and consolidated Muscovite rule. In the 17th century started the rule of the Romanov dynasty in Russia which lasted for three centuries, until the violent Russian Revolution in 1917. After the revolution became Russian Empire Soviet Union which was led by the Communist Party and Vladimir Lenin. After the second world war had the Soviet Union expanded by invading Eastern Europe. Then started the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union which ended 1985 and the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
As mentioned a bit above, Russia and Latvia have a lot in common when it comes to history. The first connection between the two countries officially was in 1920 when the Soviet Union and Latvia signed a peace treaty, before that were Latvians part of the Russian Empire. Only twenty years later invaded Soviet Russia Latvia which included deportations. The Soviet Union stayed in Latvia until the end of the Union in 1991 when Soviet Russia became the Russian Federation and Latvia regained its independence.
Present
Today is Latvia an independent state with a president and a unicameral parliament, the Saeima. Latvia has an area of about 65 000 sq km and the population of 1.91 million. About 25% of the population consists of Russians. Since Latvia is a remotely small country, it is part of several international organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Council of Europe, NATO, OSCE and WTO.
Russia on the other hand is a federal semi-presidential constitutional republic. Russia’s area is over 17 million sq km and the population of Russia is over 146 million. Russia is also part of several international organizations, such as the United Nations, the Council of Europe, OSCE, APEC, G8 and CSTO.
When it comes to diplomatic relations between Russia and Latvia after 1991, there have been several diplomatic visits, in 2007 a border treaty between two states was ratified and there are some bilateral agreements as well.4
Problems
One of the biggest problems Latvia has is that one fourth of the population is Russian. There have been several issues because Russians are not the only Russian speaking minority in Latvia and this minority group is supported by Russia itself. Although there are some Russians that respect the independence of Latvia, there are too many of those who would rather support Russian diplomacy and policy. That problem was inherited by the Soviet Union because during those 50 years a lot of people from Russia and other slavic countries were sent to Latvia.
The other huge problem for Latvia is the shared border with Russia. The fear of Russian invasion is one of the main reasons why Latvia has joined NATO. Creating strong allies is the option that the other two Baltic states have chosen but for example Finland chose another option which was to decline NATO membership and create as strong army as possible and also keep up good diplomatic relations with Russia. Both ways are correct in my opinion, considering the background and the abilities of countries.
When it comes to Russia, the biggest problem and solution at the same time is one man with the name Vladimir Putin. It is scary that he has been ruling Russia since the beginning of the 21st century, and has changed a few laws to be able to be the president longer. When we look at it from one side, Russia was a mess after the Soviet Union collapsed and when Putin became president the state became stable and much stronger. It is also beneficial to some of the people in Russia who tolerate the politics he makes. On the other hand one can start questioning how democratic the state is when one man has been in the lead for over 20 years. There are also cases of violence conducted against the opposition in Russia so it is becoming more and more to look like a dictatorship to me.
Another problem or more like a threat for/to Russia is NATO, and the USA especially. On military bases the USA is the biggest power in the world. That is why Russia is frightened about NATO soldiers moving into Eastern Europe and the Baltics States. Russia has also allies, some documented, some not, for example Belarus, Kazakhstan, Syria and China. They also are part of a cooperation called BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa).
Conclusion
Latvia and Russia are two different countries. When Russia has a lot of power on the military bases and also in diplomatic relations, then Latvia has to rely mostly on its allies or international organizations, such as the EU or NATO. A good example is that Russia is one of the five permanent members in the United Nations Security Council which controls or at least tries to control every military conflict in the world. AT the same time Latvia can just watch their meetings and that is all. While the history of Latvia started in the 20th century, the great Russian Empire established centuries earlier. Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union which we now know as the Russian Federation. Today Russia has a bigger area and more people but what is one thing that they both have in common is that the state they currently have is only about 30 years old because they had to build the country up again after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both of the countries are part of a bunch of international organizations. Both of them are part of the Council of Europe, the United Nations and OSCE. Latvia and Russia have had diplomatic relations since 1920 but they stopped when Latvia was part of the USSR.
The biggest problems for Latvia, besides being a small Eastern Europe country with almost no power in foreign policy, are a big Russian minority in the country and sharing a border with Russia, which has invaded Latvia before. So both of the big problems are connected to Russia and in my opinion that makes Latvia dependent on Russia. When we are talking about Russia then the two biggest problems are Putin and NATO (and the USA). Putin is a controversial topic since there are lots of Russians that like him but for the opposition it has been hell. In my opinion, yes having one president or leader of the country is somewhat stable because people know what to expect, but at the same time it is dividing the nation because the opposition has to be silent and hide etc. So Putin is indeed a controversial topic. When it comes to NATO it is the biggest threat to Russia, since the USA is part of NATO and the US is the biggest military power in the world.
In conclusion, as the USN informed me, Russia is far more powerful than Latvia. When these two countries are part of some organization or pact then Latvia is more bystander and Russia is one of the main powers and leaders. It can be a bigger area, a stronger army, a bigger population or the politics that make Russia more powerful than Latvia but that is just how it is and how it will be as well in the future.
Sources
1 “Most Influential Countries | U.S. News Best Countries – USNews.com.” https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/most-influential-countries.
2 “History of Latvia: A brief synopsis (mfa.gov.lv).” 2 Dec. 2014, https://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/usa/culture/history-of-latvia-a-brief-synopsis.
3 “Russia: Timeline – HISTORY.” 19 Mar. 2019, https://www.history.com/topics/russia/russia-timeline.
4 “Latvia–Russia relations – Wikipedia.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia%E2%80%93Russia_relations.
5 “Latvia – The Soviet occupation and incorporation | Britannica.” https://www.britannica.com/place/Latvia/The-Soviet-occupation-and-incorporation.
6 “Latvia – Wikipedia.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latvia.
7 “International Organizations.” 24 Feb. 2021, https://www.mfa.gov.lv/en/policy/international-organizations.
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9 “Foreign relations of Russia – Wikipedia.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_relations_of_Russia.
10 “The Case of the Russians in Latvia and the Need of the ….” http://www.macrothink.org/journal/index.php/ijssr/article/view/6917.
11 “Who are Russia’s main allies? – Russia Beyond.” 18 Jan. 2019, https://www.rbth.com/lifestyle/329861-who-are-russia-allies.
Aniiratak 