The Baltic states are very worried about military attacks by Russia. A legislative initiative by the Duma now confirms the worst fears: a Kremlin hardliner disputes Lithuania's independence. But unlike Ukraine, the country is under NATO protection.
The Russian lower house aims to revoke Lithuania's independence. Duma deputy Yevgeny Fyodorov introduced a corresponding draft law in which, according to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, he primarily argued from a legal point of view. Accordingly, the decree "On Recognition of the Independence of the Republic of Lithuania" from the time of the Soviet Union is illegal. According to the draft law, the decree was passed by an allegedly unconstitutional body and violates several articles of the USSR Constitution, Ria Novosti reported.
Nor did Lithuania hold a valid referendum on secession from the Soviet Union. This violates a Soviet law that regulated the separation of the now independent Soviet republics from Moscow. According to the Russian constitution, the Russian Federation sees itself as the legal successor to the Soviet Union.
About an hour after Russian news agencies reported on the draft law, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told state news agency TASS that the Kremlin was not aware of "such an initiative".
Fyodorov is a member of the United Russia majority party, which supports President Vladimir Putin's course. He is considered a right-wing extremist hardliner and is chairman of the "National Liberation Movement" (NOD), which aims to expand Russia's influence so that the federation is once again as powerful as the Soviet Union once was. All parties represented in the Duma are considered loyal to the Kremlin, which is why laws are usually passed unanimously.
As one of five NATO member states, Lithuania shares a border with Russia. There is great concern that Russian aggression will spread to the Baltic States. For this reason, representatives of the three Baltic states recently welcomed Chancellor Olaf Scholz's commitment to grant Lithuania stronger military protection. In the run-up to the visit, the Baltic states had pushed for a stronger NATO presence in the eastern alliance area.
