Riga - War in Georgia has divided the people of Latvia and
Estonia, two ex-Soviet nations where Russian speakers are the largest
ethnic minority.
Rival loyalties, never far below the surface, surged into the open
as Baltic leaders sided with Georgia's US-backed president, Mikheil
Saakashvili, based on a shared history of oppression by Moscow.
'Saakhashvili is an inappropriate president,' said Valentina
Smorodina, 75, an ethnic Russian who came to Latvia after World War
II from Russia. 'They ought to put him on trial and shoot him.'
'The Latvian government should be ashamed for supporting him,' she
tells Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa at her home in Bolderaja, a mostly
Russian neighbourhood in the Latvian capital, Riga, where a former
Soviet naval barracks sits empty.
Here, she resides in a parallel universe that has little to do
with Latvia. Like many others, she watches Kremlin-sponsored
television news and reads local Russian newspapers, which support
Russia's military assault in Georgia.
As Russia and Georgia engage in propaganda wars in the
international media, Russians and Latvians are split over the
conflict 2,200 kilometers away.
Demonstrators in all three Baltic nations - Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania - have held pro-Georgia rallies since the conflict erupted
last week.
Mostly ethnic Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians protested
outside Russian embassies in their capitals, calling on Russia to
cease what they called 'aggression' against a neighbour.
Latvia's Russian minority, which accounts for about a third of its
2.3 million people, staged its own rally in support of Moscow's
actions in Georgia.
Holding signs 'Russia, you're right' and 'Russia is a bulwark of
peace,' several hundred mostly ethnic Russians gathered this week
outside the Russian embassy in the Latvian capital, Riga, two days
after several thousands had come out to offer support to Georgia and
condemn Russia.
As Baltic governments offer political and humanitarian assistance
to Georgia, ethnic Russians ask for blood and clothing donations for
victims in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia.
History helps explain why Baltic leaders offered to help Georgia.
Soviet tanks crushed 22 years of Baltic independence in 1940,
deporting Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians to Siberian gulags.
After a three-year German occupation during World War II, the Soviets
regained control of the Baltics until communism crumbled in 1990.
So a resurgent Russia flexing its military muscle near its border
in Georgia gives Balts a sense of deja-vu.
'My father jokingly asked, 'To which country would you be moving
if the Russians come?' said Latvian woman Ilze Murniece, 32.
As another sign of a divide, the Harmony Centre, one out of two
parties representing ethnic Russians in the Latvian parliament,
boycotted a debate on the situation in Georgia on Thursday.
Another party, For Humans Rights in United latvia, had sharp words
ahead of the vote to condemn Russia's behaviour in Georgia.
'I hope that you'll remember the advice of former French president
Jacques Chirac that there are moments when it's better for Latvia to
keep silent,' said Jakovs Pliners, referring to Chirac's reaction to
the new EU members, including Latvia, support for the US invasion in
Iraq in 2003.
'The way Russia throws its weight around clearly should make
everyone a little upset,' Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves
told dpa in a phone interview from Tallinn.
In response, tech-savvy Estonia sent experts to help divert cyber
attacks on Georgian servers, after Estonian servers were attacked in
a dispute with Russia in 2007.
Latvia's government set aside 100,000 lats (212,000 dollars) in
aid to Georgia. Leaders of the three Baltic states, Poland and
Ukraine traveled to Georgia this week to show support.
The Baltics present themselves as examples of transformation from
former Soviet republics into members of the European Union and NATO,
which the three countries joined in 2004. They have been sharing
their experience with Georgia and supported its bid to join NATO.
Not all Latvians support Georgia, but they do widely condemn
Russia's actions.
'Yes, I blame both sides,' said Latvian university student Ainars
Leijejs, who organized small protests at the Georgian and Russian
embassies. 'But there is no doubt that Russia today is first and
biggest aggressor and enemy of world in peace.'
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