The Lithuania Tribune: Baltic Complexity

Such a situation has earned Latvia, international condemnation by the government of the Russian Federation, the Council of Europe and several international human rights organisations. As a result of this contemporary reality, there is a chronic mistrust and palpable ethnic tension (reflecting deeper historical traumas) in the streets of Riga (between Latvians and Russians) than in the sidewalks of Vilnius and its respective ethnic minorities. In this regard and judging by the inter-ethnic relationships of a personal nature (e.g. with friends, acquaintances, relatives, etc.), the institutional integration of minorities in Lithuania may be considered more advanced than its Latvian counterpart.
A final point on this issue is that according to the Migrant Integration Policy Index 2010 (MIPEX, endorsed by European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Cecilia Malmström), produced by the British Council and the Migration Policy Group, Latvia ranks last in the 31 countries examined whilst Lithuania surges ahead of Malta, Slovakia and Cyprus. Such demographic makeup and contrasting political approaches have markedly provided a different flavour to the character of these two Baltic people. Whilst Latvia takes an increasingly confrontational approach to its ethnic minority, Lithuania seems to tackle this issue in a more pragmatic and tolerant fashion...Read more