2026-01-31 06:00
publication
2026-01-31 06:00
Russian perception of Latvia is becoming more and more similar to the one Russia had towards Ukraine before the war. The increasingly negative image of Latvia and other Baltic countries may, in the long run, result in more aggressive actions from across the eastern border, according to a report by counterintelligence services.
A similar narrative as towards Ukraine
– According to the Russian message, Latvia is a Russophobic country that oppresses Russian-speaking inhabitants – stated in the report of the Constitution Protection Bureau (SAB), one of the three state security bodies in Latvia, responsible for, among others, for counterintelligence.
In Latvia, inhabited by approximately 1.86 million people, the Russian minority constitutes over a quarter of society, and Russian is the main language spoken by more than every third resident.
“Russian narratives also present Latvia as a Nazi state, a puppet of Great Britain and the USA and a failed state. Before the war, Moscow spread similar narratives about Ukraine. Now it presents all three Baltic countries in a similar way,” it stressed.
Moscow's long-term plans
The services warn that although Russia does not currently pose a direct military threat to Latvia, there are many signals about its potential long-term plans. One scenario is that Russia may try to use international mechanisms to take Latvia and other countries to court for alleged discrimination against Russian-speaking people.
SAB said it continues to receive information confirming Moscow's growing belief in its own propaganda in which “Europe, including Latvia, is presented as a threat to Russia and its supposedly high values.” “There is no indication that Russian elites would change this view, even if peace were to come to Ukraine,” said bureau chief Egils Zviedris, emphasizing that Moscow's long-term goal is to “dismantle the world order based on rules and law and ensure that Russia is perceived as a superpower.”
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