Systemic Nationalism — the Baltics states on the way from pseudo-democracy to a new fascism

The article shows that today all the Baltic countries are united in their views on the outcome of the Second World War and relations with Russia. Official propaganda, the elite and the ruling circles of the Baltic States constantly position Russia as the main threat to stability in the region and the world and constantly replicate the thesis of the USSR's fault in the current problems of the development of their state. It is emphasized that Latvia, like Lithuania and Estonia, evokes associations of a consistent anti-Russian irritant in the domestic and international public consciousness. The author shows that in the Baltic countries the phenomenon of collaboration during the Second World War had a specific national peculiarity and was associated with the hope of local elites that the military presence of Germany would allow them to recreate the nation-states in the former, pre-war format. The author notes that attempts to compensate for the inability to conduct a creative policy with Russophobia and revanchism will end, unfortunately, not tomorrow. The author examines the main reasons why the authorities of the Baltic countries are so tolerant of neo-Nazis. However, at the same time, Russia stands for balancing and leveling relations with the Baltic States and maintaining them at a level that allows for a fairly effective political dialogue and developing economic ties. Moreover, as the author notes, the situation can change quite quickly and radically with the appearance of real independent personalities in this political environment who are able to resolutely defend the truly national interests of the population of their countries, which, ultimately, will restore the regional and international authority of the Baltic countries and increase their attractiveness both politically and economically.