Russia is using the same narratives it previously used to justify its war in Ukraine, but this time they are directed against the Republic of Moldova and the Baltic states, members of NATO, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
Recently, the head of diplomacy in Moscow, Sergei Lavrov, accused authorities in the Baltic states and in the Republic of Moldova of adopting “racist laws” and of discriminating against the Russian population. The Institute for the Study of War stated that Lavrov’s claims closely resemble the Kremlin’s narratives used to justify the war in Ukraine.
“The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the infamous ODIHR, ignores its obligations and pays no attention to the illegal behavior of the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev (the cliché used by Russia to refer to the Ukrainian government in Moscow’s official messages – ed.) and the ruling circles in the Baltic states and in Moldova, who adopt racist laws and subject the local Russian population to ruthless discrimination,” Lavrov’s article published in Rossiskaia Gazeta reads.
The Russian foreign minister also claimed that, instead of addressing Moscow’s accusations, ODIHR “produces” alleged “blatantly false reports about supposed violations of international humanitarian law by “Russia” during the conflict in Ukraine.” He wrote this despite the fact that numerous war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine have been well documented.
ISW warned that high-ranking Kremlin officials are creating conditions for potential Russian aggression against both the Republic of Moldova and NATO members: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland. According to ISW, this falls within Russia’s ongoing strategy, called “Phase Zero,” intended to establish the informational and psychological foundation for a possible conflict with NATO.
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