Tensions Mount in Latvia as they watch Russia Have its way with Ukraine

The U.S. has dispatched a small contingent of paratroopers to 

Latvia to reassure the Baltic ally and deter Russia from any 

provocations. European Pressphoto Agency

The U.S. ambassador was trying to instill confidence in a country growing nervous. Addressing Latvian troops at this large military base last week, Mark Pekala pointed to nearby paratroopers from the 173rd Infantry Brigade and said the U.S. was locked "plecu pie pleca," or "shoulder to shoulder" with its North Atlantic Treaty Organization partner. 

It was a valiant effort. But in an interview after the speech, Latvia's new defense minister, Raimonds Vejonis, offered a more sober view of the mind-set here. "The society has fear," said Mr. Vejonis, who was a biology teacher when Latvia was still under Soviet rule. "We know what it means to be under Russia."

CLICK CHART above to ENLARGE

Some 23 years after becoming independent from the Soviet Union, this country of two million is fretting over just how far Russia's gaze toward its neighbors may reach. The fear reflects a broader ribbon of concern that runs through the Baltic region, which includes Lithuania and Estonia. But Latvia is the most Russian of the group. 

A quarter of the population is ethnic Russian and nearly 40% of its people speak Russian as their native tongue. That gives particular resonance here to Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, and anxiety about separatist violence in other parts of Ukraine. On Sunday in Odessa, a cosmopolitan port city on the Black Sea coast, the emergence of a pro-Ukraine civilian resistance group pointed to a widening civil conflict with pro-Russian activists.

Noncitizen advocates, some with tape over their mouths, 

protest in Riga, Latvia. Some fear noncitizens could be 

'potential prey for Putin' if the government continues to appear 

deaf to their concerns. Alina Lastovska

In Latvia, municipal leaders are often labeled as leaning strongly toward Russian interests. What's more, a small minority of its people have refused citizenship amid naturalization hurdles. 

A chief concern of the government—which is facing parliamentary elections in October—is the rise of what some officials call "provocateurs," people in the country believed to be spreading antigovernment sentiment on behalf of the Kremlin. For now, government leaders say the nation is "stable" and a new poll indicates the ruling Unity party gained substantial support among voters, with many saying they never want to compromise their status in the European Union.

Read the rest of the story HERE.

If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.