Prosecutor General: No Russian Pressure on Estonia Yet on Soviet-Era Draft Objectors
Following Russia's latest stunner - a move to reopen cases against Lithuanians who refused to serve in the Soviet military, even after the country declared re-independence - Estonia's Prosecutor General's Office told ERR that Estonia had not yet received similar requests for legal assistance.
The news that Russia was reopening the cases was reported by the Lithuania Tribune today, and raised questions in the other two Baltics, not least over the fact that Russia appeared to be targeting only one of the Baltics.
The decision comes several days after Russian federal secret service operatives are said to have crossed into Estonia to kidnap an Estonian officer. That incident resonated in Lithuania, too, as it recalled the fatal assaults on Lithuanian border guard posts in 1991.
The 1990s timeline in Lithuania was slightly different from that of Latvia and Estonia, as the country declared re-independence earlier, on March 11, 1990, 17 months before the other two Baltics, but in principle Russia's move could set off similar alarm bells in the other Baltics.
Russia's request for legal assistance met with a blunt statement that Lithuania would not proceed on any such request. The Lithuanian security police issued a statement saying that anyone who heeded the government's urging and who did not serve in the Soviet army in 1990-1991 should not travel outside the EU or they could risk their personal security.