Big neighbour
This is the first of three pieces I'm writing in the run-up to this week's EU-Russia summit, as I explain here.
When east meets west you get one of the longest traffic jams in the world.
On and off for about 30 miles, lorries line the road, queuing to take their goods from Europe to Russia, occasional knots of drivers standing by their trucks, chatting.
Through the windows of the high cabs, you can catch a glimpse of less animated types snoozing, or watching TV.
The area near the border between Russia and Latvia is a pretty enough place. The leaves of the silver birch are turning from green to gold, and in forest clearings there are small farmsteads, usually just a couple of rather ramshackle wooden buildings
But now portable loos and huge rubbish skips are plonked in front of the farms and the local council has declared a state of emergency. An estimated 1,500 lorries queue along this part of the border on an average day.
It鈥檚 16 years since Latvia became an independent country, rather than a republic within the Soviet Union, but the line of the border with Russia has only just been agreed. Along a six-mile stretch it will have to be moved back about 100 feet, giving more territory to Russia. Latvian politicians say the real reason for the disagreement was that the Russians were trying to put obstacles in the way of Latvia joining the European Union.
Slow going
It has been part of the club for two years now, and while trade with the giant neighbour has increased, so have the tensions. Not that the lorry drivers think there is anything political in their little break from driving. Nikolai, an ethnic Russian Latvian, says he鈥檚 been here three days. How does he manage?
鈥淲e can cook. There鈥檚 gas cooker in our cabin and we鈥檝e got spoons and everything, our whole lives are in our 鈥榗abs鈥. Our wives still love us so we鈥檝e got good borshch, with meat.鈥
Not everyone is as stoical. Jevenijs Slisans, the executive director of Ludza District Council, says people here have had enough.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e fed up with it. They鈥檙e littering all over the road, with all kinds of waste. Local people understandably aren鈥檛 happy. We鈥檝e organised a collection but it鈥檚 really difficult to be collecting, collecting, collecting. It takes up a lot of money which we don鈥檛 always have. It seems on the Latvian side we could increase capacity, we could process more, but the Russian Federation has introduced more thorough checks at the moment, and it鈥檚 really slow going through their control points. It鈥檚 not clear why the question of organising more border crossing points hasn鈥檛 been resolved.鈥
The lucky driver right at the front of the queues has had time to make himself cosy. In a thick jumper, track-suit bottoms and woolly socks with open-toed sandals, surrounded by cigarette smoke, he鈥檚 turned his cab into a nest. He鈥檚 been here for five days and says that despite his TV, CB radio and videos, this is the bad part of the journey. When he gets through the nine checks on the borders he鈥檚 got another 6,000km to drive. But he鈥檒l be over the worst bit. This wait.
He too doesn鈥檛 think the Russian鈥檚 are making a point. They just love paperwork. The more paper the better. The European Union is frequently accused of pointless bureaucracy, but for these men it鈥檚 a breeze getting through European borders. Russia is more like a breeze block.
History鈥檚 captives
It may not help the truckers much, but is pleased the border line is about to be settled.
鈥淚t has a historic importance, because for a long time Russia didn鈥檛 want to sign the border treaty, because there was hope within some political circles in Russia that not signing the border treaty would hinder our entrance to the EU and Nato. After we succeeded in 2004 in becoming members in these two organisations, we also received an invitation from Putin to sign the border treaty, and now we are at the last stage to complete this task.
鈥淢y philosophy, and the philosophy of this government, is that we have to remember history, and we have to learn from history, but we should not become hostages to history.鈥
It鈥檚 hard in this region not to be held captive by history. Latvia won independence from Russia in 1920. After Hitler and Stalin carved up the region, it was invaded by the Soviet Union in 1940. More than 34,000 people were executed or deported. The Germans marched in a year later. The Soviets took it back in 1945.
It is why Russians who arrived after the war are seen as invaders and are required to take a citizenship test. It is one reason why Russia feels that it has vital interests in the region. But one man who was a communist in the dying days of the Soviet Union, indeed represented the party in Latvia鈥檚 last Supreme Soviet doesn鈥檛 look back towards his old homeland. Yevgeni Drobot told me, 鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 want to have to rely on the help of Moscow, we think we need to build our life in this state, and not depend on whether Moscow thumps its fist or not. We need to have rights and opportunities here in order to lead a good life here.鈥
It鈥檚 clear that some Latvian still feel they are treated like small fry by their neighbour. is a very fishy place. The smell of sprats and smoke is strong. The little fish are gutted and beheaded by an assembly line of women standing in rows.
They are then transferred to the other side of the factory where they are regularly and expertly strung along long needles. These are then placed on a rack which trundles through a large metal construction. This smoker gives them their unique flavour. After a long drive, and four hours past lunchtime, sitting down in the boardroom to sample of some of their finest smoked sprats, I can see why they are considered such a delicacy and essential party food in Russia. Especially with rye bread.
'Unreliable' partner
But these sprats are banned by Moscow on health grounds. There鈥檚 little doubt that smoked food can contain cancer-causing chemicals but there are big question marks about the ways of testing and the levels. These sprats have passed EU regulations, which are often attacked for being too stringent, but failed Moscow鈥檚 tests.
The executive director of Brivais Vilnis, Maris Trankalis, has no doubt this is a ploy to allow Russian companies to develop the same skills.
鈥淚 think they try to protect their market and therefore they stopped our exports to Russia. And it鈥檚 not fair,鈥 he says.
What about Russia generally? He smiles and hesitates, as people in the Baltics do when you ask them that question.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big neighbour, and we cannot know what the big neighbour will do tomorrow. But it is not a very reliable business partner.鈥
He tells me later that he is trying to make up for the lost market by expanding into Western Europe and building up trade with other Baltic countries. He says it鈥檚 just not worth doing business with the Russians - it is just too uncertain. It鈥檚 such a huge market that few companies will take this line as a matter of policy, but it鈥檚 not uncommon to hear people say that Russia is just not worth the hassle and potential loss of trade that can follow a political whim.
The foreign minister, Artis Pabriks, wants the European Union to heed the experience of the Baltic states and particular to stand with them when they have such problems, rather than go chasing after individual advantage with Russian business or government.
He told me: 鈥淚n my view, Russians are led only by one interest, by national interest. While in the EU we frequently have the philosophy of a value-based policy and that sometimes makes it difficult to take a decision, especially because we don鈥檛 have a united foreign policy.
鈥淪o, looking from the Latvian point of view it is very important that the EU tries to stick to one foreign policy. We joined the EU in order to see this organisation as a strong one, not a weaker one. And if we are not united it鈥檚 just like Benjamin Franklin said, either we hang together or we hang separately.鈥
Tomorrow, I will write about Poland鈥檚 involvement in US plans for missile defence.
I鈥檓 Mark Mardell, the 91热爆's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
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Russia is a Great country and Russian people are indefatigable workers, and Mr. Putin has done a great job in leading his country out of chaos, but from an European point of view the Russian rearmament, the lack of respect for human rights, the continuous revenges toward East Europe Countries are heavy problems.
I totally agree with the Latvian foreign minister, without a real common foreign policy (and we cannot separate it from energy policy of course) toward Russia problems will just increase.
Lastly I think we have to clear understand that at present we, Europeans, are paying the Russian rearmament!
Mark, do your home work - Russian companies do not import sprats not because of the health regulations, but because there is no demand from the market - there was a compain initiated by a Russian newspaper advising people not to buy Latvian products because of the violation (or what they think is violation) of right of Russians in Latvia
I live and work in Estonia, which has the same border problems with Russia as does Latvia. It takes up to a week for trucks to cross into Russia, since Russian officials have a daily maximum quota they are not allowed to exceed.
But one point you didn't pick up on, is that overall, Russia's policy hurts Russians more than Estonians or Latvians. Most of the traffic is transit, in other words it does not originate with Estonian or Latvian companies, but with companies elsewhere in the EU. Result is that the policy hurts Russian businesses far more than Estonian or Latvian businesses.
The same is true for personal travel. I recently took a bus from Tallinn to St. Petersburg. The Estonian border was a breeze, the Russian side however was, as you wrote, "a breeze block." But once again, the vast majority of passports I noticed were Russian, and the minority of Estonian passports were held by ethnic Russians. On the entire bus I only saw one or two ethnic Estonians. Russia claims to be trying to protect the rights of the Russian speaking minority, but all they do is to hurt the people they are supposedly trying to help.
Latvia and Poland should do more to develop their economy and less to foment rows with Russia. They are well placed to develop beneficial trade relations with Russia but they seem too preoccupied by the idea of settling old scores. When they try to play the first fiddle in EU Eastern policy it鈥檚 a recipe to disaster. The whole idea of EU solidarity with a provocative, mindless act of a member state is a sheer stupidity.
It is so nice to hear that pres. Gazputin's regime is so concerned about health of Russian citizens that he's banned not only Georgian wines, cognacs, mineral water and Polish meat, but also Latvian sprats.
It seems that Brussels Sprouts are very impressed by Russian Federation's high health standards and that's why refuse to intervene in Moscow on behalf of affected EU member-states.
"one point you didn't pick up on, is that overall, Russia's policy hurts Russians more than Estonians or Latvians. Most of the traffic is transit, in other words it does not originate with Estonian or Latvian companies, but with companies elsewhere in the EU. Result is that the policy hurts Russian businesses far more than Estonian or Latvian businesses."[#3]
Exactly. Yet another example:
Kremlin has banned fruit and veggies exported by Polish companies. Except that the produce shipped by Polish companies comes from OLD Europe.
Re #4: Isn't it interesting that people who complain here most often about New Europe's countries ruining their friendly relations with Moscow are Germans. Let me then warn them: those countries won't allow friendly relationship betweeen Berlin and Moscow reach the level of cooperation which existed between Germany and Russia in 1933-1941 period. Never again!
While you're patrolling the border, Mark, please find time to do some more pieces for "From our own correspondent". I enjoyed your George Clooney piece from Lisbon.
Latvia as an independent of Russia state can now happily eat her sprats on her own. Or she can sell the stuff to the new found masters in the EU.
If there's no demand on the market the production must stop - isn't it the law of market economy?
Why not stop moaning and find something else the EU could buy?
Apart from sprats and prostitutes, what can Latvia offer to Europe?
The reason why Russia wouldn't ratify the border treaty is that until recently, the Latvian government included in the ratification law a reference to 1920 borders, which Russia viewed (rightly) as a potential can of worms. As soon as the clause was dropped, the Russians ratified the treaty. Nothing to do with EU or NATO, really.
What a biased article! The author simply doesn鈥檛 care to do his very basic homework and rather repeats the biased suggestions of those few he had interviews with. The Russian-Latvia border treaty was long delayed not because, as the author claims, the Russians were trying to put obstacles in the way of Latvia joining the European Union and NATO, but because the Latvian Parliament kept on unilaterally adding to the treaty the statements that would afford Latvia to maintain its territorial claims against Russia in the future. That position was unacceptable for the Russians, so that Russia鈥檚 Parliament insisted on the original, mutually-agreed text of the treaty. Once the Latvian side stopped introducing controversial points, the treaty was smoothly adopted. I have been recently frustrated to see that the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains on its official website a map of Estonia and Latvia that shows both the agreed state border with Russia and, in addition, an odd borderline inside the Russian territory that they consider to be 鈥榓 proper one鈥 (see MFA鈥檚 websites:
That is the logic that the Baltic governments maintain in their dialogue with Russia and the logic they want the EU to follow also. And what reaction would you expect from Russia? Why the author does not present the view of the other side? Reductionism to THAT level is unacceptable for professional journalism! I start understanding why 91热爆 have decided to reduce their staff...
The Baltic states would do well to
solidify their economic, cultural and governmental relationships BETWEEN THEMSELVES - work toward ever increasing cooperation and a unified foreign and economic policy.
(The Nordic Union can provide some models.) These three nation states have very much in common, similar to the Scandinavian nations. They should work hard to bring themselves ever closer together.Their petty differences are abetted by Russia.
Simultaneouly, they should strive to ever increasingly integrate themselves into the overall EU economy and cultural institutions.
To the degree that they don't, they will be subject to unwanted influence from an agressive Russia.
Is it too much to expect that they could in the future unite in order to preserve their existance as nations?
Mark, you must be one of the few journalists in the 91热爆 where you can judge that you are doing a good job because the number of complaints actually INCreases.. !
After all, if you were too much on one side of the argument or the other, then only half of the audience would be upset.
However if you go for a more balanced approach, you should be able to upset both sides at once ! Keep up the good work - it would be good to get an update on Turkey soon, as I don't like the way that situation is developing one little bit..
It should have been mentioned in the article that disagreements between Russia and Latvia in regard of the border treaty were a direct result of Latvian side including a reference to pre-war treaty allocating Pytalovo region (in Pskov oblast) to Latvia thereby providing a legally challenging statements for the future Russia-EU relationship. It is also obvious for any unbiased person that membership in NATO and EU could not be a reason for a delay in ratification since border treaties had to be ratified with Lithuania and Estonia as well. I found statements of former Latvian minister very amusing.
As to sprats - you can find latvian sprats (as well as estonian and russian which are less expensive) in any market in Russia, but you would have difficulty finding it in London.
Pres. GazPutin, as Mirek Kondracki wittily has dubbed him, effectively banned in 2005-2006, when he threatened the entire EU with his "gas baton", not only Latvian sprats, Georgian wines and Polish meat, he also effectively banned Ukrainian milk products and sweets. The funniest thing about that was that they used to send inspections from Russian Agriculture Ministry to Ukrainian plants owned presumably by French and German companies. Now when I see Russians buying kilos of Ukrainian sweets when they are on business trip in Kyiv, I always ask if they are not afraid of being poisoned.
To Liberal Economy:
If there's no demand on the market the production must stop - isn't it the law of market economy?
The last news from Moscow is that new Russian Prime Minister Mr Zubkov had struck a deal with Russian retailors to ban them setting up fair market prices on bread and milk products, saying they are essential. I laughed a lot. It's exactly what Mr Mugabe is doing in Zimbabway. And we see the results: his fallow citizens die of malnutrition, shelves of supermarkets are just empty. It's obvious for any educated person that if you force businessmen by administrative meagures to freeze prices for some goods, they will stop selling those products, or they will just raise prices for other products, like oil or noodles, or veggies. Are not they also essential to Russians? It seems like Kremlin have decided that Russians are prohibited to eat Latvian sprats, drink Georgian wines, eat Polish milk, they should feed themselves only with bread and milk, which will be cheap from now on. But sprats are very good after vodka. Everybody knows that.
But somehow EU as usual uses double standards: Mugabe is a dictator, Lukashenka is dictator and they are ostracised, but GazPutin is well-respected President of "surging Russia." What kind of joint EU policy are you talking about, when Chancellor Merkel meets Putin and talks some deals with him over the EU's head. Very good, before Russia-EU summit, Putin meets Merkel. I do agree with Mr Kondracki that Germany is the main traitor of joint EU energy policy and that is why I'm Eurosceptic like the majority of Britons are.
Pres. GazPutin, as Mirek Kondracki wittily has dubbed him, effectively banned in 2005-2006, when he threatened the entire EU with his "gas baton", not only Latvian sprats, Georgian wines and Polish meat, he also effectively banned Ukrainian milk products and sweets. The funniest thing about that was that they used to send inspections from Russian Agriculture Ministry to Ukrainian plants owned presumably by French and German companies. Now when I see Russians buying kilos of Ukrainian sweets when they are on business trip in Kyiv, I always ask if they are not afraid of being poisoned.
To Liberal Economy:
If there's no demand on the market the production must stop - isn't it the law of market economy?
The last news from Moscow is that new Russian Prime Minister Mr Zubkov had struck a deal with Russian retailors to ban them setting up fair market prices on bread and milk products, saying they are essential. I laughed a lot. It's exactly what Mr Mugabe is doing in Zimbabway. And we see the results: his fallow citizens die of malnutrition, shelves of supermarkets are just empty. It's obvious for any educated person that if you force businessmen by administrative meagures to freeze prices for some goods, they will stop selling those products, or they will just raise prices for other products, like oil or noodles, or veggies. Are not they also essential to Russians? It seems like Kremlin have decided that Russians are prohibited to eat Latvian sprats, drink Georgian wines, eat Polish milk, they should feed themselves only with bread and milk, which will be cheap from now on. But sprats are very good after vodka. Everybody knows that.
But somehow EU as usual uses double standards: Mugabe is a dictator, Lukashenka is dictator and they are ostracised, but GazPutin is well-respected President of "surging Russia." What kind of joint EU policy are you talking about, when Chancellor Merkel meets Putin and talks some deals with him over the EU's head. Very good, before Russia-EU summit, Putin meets Merkel. I do agree with Mr Kondracki that Germany is the main traitor of joint EU energy policy and that is why I'm Eurosceptic like the majority of Britons are.
The whole article seems like a fictional story- no real facts, just simply gossiping about the "Asian troublesome neighboor of a nice small EU country" called Latvia.
Dear Mark, you should not rely much on Boris Akunin's sarcasm in "Altyn-Tolobas". There is a lot of overexageration and self-criticism there which is mainly intended for the Russian-speaking readers.
I 邪m amused by Baltic and polish behavior towards Russia. First they try their best to harm Russian interests and then they complain to Brussels that Russia is not buying their toxic sprats or rotten meat and demand solidarity. No solidarity in the world can make me poison myself.
And claims that polish produce is meeting EU regulations are ludicrous. The level of corruption is such that many certificates are faked and nobody cares. For example I now for sure that Poland bought substandard meat and reexported it as polish.
Russia has many other border disputes apart from those in the Baltics, some of which are extremely nasty. Moldova and Georgia are bedevilled by Russian meddling, there's constant grumbling from Moscow aboit "reclaiming" the Crimea from Ukraine etc., etc. They refuse to return the Kuriles to Japan, and they occupy vast tracts of territory illegally and brutally occupied e.g. Karelia, which was part of Finland until the Winter War. They've just claimed the North Pole as their territory for goodness sake!!! In the context of this background, I would like to ask Michael at #9, just who is opening the can of worms? Just who appears to have territorial ambitions - Latvia against Russia??? What a joke!!!
After a passionate national debate, Latvia agreed to give up Abrene, the district that was illegally transferred to Russia after WWII. The Latvians made a mature decision to let go of the past in the hope of better relations. Let's hope that the Russians - despite past form - adopt a similarly enlightened attitude. I'm not holding my breath, though - thank God for NATO.
Oleg [#10] wrote:
I have been recently frustrated to see that the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains on its official website a map of Estonia and Latvia that shows both the agreed state border with Russia and, in addition, an odd borderline inside the Russian territory that they consider to be 鈥榓 proper one鈥.
Don't you also find it a little odd that the official map of Russian Federation includes part of Finnish Karelia and Japanese Kuril Islands?
Let's hope that Mr. Putin, when he's elected Russia premier (since he can't be its president anymore) rectifies that situation, and not only on the map.
And why, exactly, should the British people accept the new 'reform' treaty that binds us into 'ever closer union' with these bothersome Baltic states?
Apart from sprats and prostitutes, what can Latvia offer to Europe?[#8]
Some backbone for spineless cowards who roll over and play dead?
Just a short remark to the author: it was three years ago, rather than two that the three Baltic states joined the European Union.
And replying to the Liberal Economy's post: I'm sorry, but if you are British or Irish, you should know quite well what the Baltic states can offer to Europe - labour. And that should matter to you as liberals claim people must be allowed to move freely.
Ever wondered who works in the British construction industry or agriculture? Ever heard of the unofficial data that 10% of the Lithuanian population already has settled in the UK or Ireland? The Baltic nationals together with other Eastern Europeans make up an important part of the British and Irish economies.
I'm not Latvian, I'm Lithuanian (and female, by the way, which means I feel even more hurt by the statement that Latvia can only offer prostitutes) who graduated from The University of the Year 2006 in the UK with a distinction. And I'm not the only one, far from it.
So I guess we've got some skills and competences.
* Mirek Kondracki wrote:
"Don't you also find it a little odd that the official map of Russian Federation includes part of Finnish Karelia."
Yes the official map includes parts of Karelia, however these are no longer "Finnish Karelia". Finland ceded parts of Karelia to Russia after the war. Karelia is a region, some parts are now in Finland, some in Russia.
No one really understands Russia, and never has. They are paranoid, and have always been so, because they feel that they are being surrounded by the west, and feel that they are being forced to accept a more democratic form of government. Russians love to feel proud of their nation, as much as, any other nation. However, the former Soviet Union is not is step with globilization, and they know that deep down inside.
Not long ago they were in a cold war with the west, and were on top of the world with the first successful man in space. Now they are holding on to their old ways, and continually refuse to go along with the new world order. Their greatest fear ought to be the growing economic power, and eventually military power that China can unleash at anytime she chooses. Russia should not ponder over a missle defence system in eastern Europe. They must start producing consumer good that they can export. Oil and gas are giving their economy a boost, but sooner or later other forms of energy will be in the for front. That has to happen, because oil, gas and coal will one day be so expensive that other forms of energy will have to be developed. Russia needs to move on, and forget about the former Soviet Union that they had to let go..
Where were you Mark over four years ago? When that queue of trucks at the border ran for thirty kilometres or more , when it took up to four hours in a private car to cross the border after a five second glance at your passport. That same queue was on the German side of the border with Poland and having done the journey countless times I can say it was not funny. The fact is the Polish jobsworths were just as bloody minded as their German counterparts who didn't even have the sense to give their own nationals crossing by car any priority. On how Dover was made to look like the height of efficiency. The mindset is still there however the queues are still there but not as long I did it a few days ago. I wonder when New Europe will be as easy to deal with as the old Europe crowd my guess not anytime soon!
"It seems that Brussels Sprouts are very impressed by Russian Federation's high health standards and that's why refuse to intervene in Moscow on behalf of affected EU member-states" Are we supposed not to buy Russian oil and gas and invest in Russia with terrific returns because of Polish or Baltic "issues" such as that the Russians do not want Latvian sprats? I don't even know what sprats look like.
"Gazputin effectively banned.... not only Latvian sprats, Georgian wines and Polish meat, he also effectively banned Ukrainian milk products and sweets.It seems like the Kremlin have decided that Russians are prohibited to eat Latvian sprats, drink Georgian wines, eat Polish milk, they should feed themselves only with bread and milk, which will be cheap from now on." It's nothing of the kind, woman!
When I visited Russia a month ago there was plenty of everything. Such consumerism! It would have gladdened even Cheney's cold heart. They have even fallen hook, line and sinker for our Western tricks of individualising samey stuff with advertising. And I don't blame them for not drinking Georgian water and wine. A Geogian environmentalist would tell you, confidentially of course, of the environmental upheaval
caused by the construction of a pipe-line at the USA's behest.
As a result of Eastern European "issues" and Brussels third-rate discarded politicians not to mention unwanted American manipulation, with whatever means, of Eastern European politicians we are seeing Russia with its treasure trove of resources, large market and scientific invention drifting into an alliance-the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(members and wannabe members) - with a huge population, huge industry, huge markets, huge hydrocarbon reserves and a growth rate approaching two digits.
Russians are Europeans and we NEED Russia.
* Mirek Kondracki wrote:
"Don't you also find it a little odd that the official map of Russian Federation includes part of Finnish Karelia and Japanese Kuril Islands?"
Don't you also find it a little odd that the official map of Poland includes big parts of Germany. Never heard Poland complaining about that gift from Stalin.
Seems like every country that belonged to the former Soviet has problems with dealing with Russia. They were part of the old Soviet economic sphere as well but the time for barter and free gifts is over. Russia has now taken the path of commerce and capitalism and is growing rich and powerful. Its former trading partners and neighbours are having a hard time adjusting to thsi new reality. What I cannot understand is why
when many of them are now official members of the EU don't turn their attention to the West and trade westwards rather than complain about Russia.
"What I cannot understand is why
when many of them are now official members of the EU don't turn their attention to the West and trade westwards rather than complain about Russia."
Chavo, we do. Baltic states, for example, had to reorient their economies towards west over a decade ago. Georgia, Ukraine are going through the same processes now. That's why Russia is angry - not only did we manage to survive w/o the big brother, we made rather a nice success of it.
Another point that gets the big neighbor steaming is that we got the whole 'democracy' thing working as well, something that according to modern russian political theory should have been impossible in post-soviet space. Apparently it only holds true for Russia, Belarus and miscellaneous autocracies in Central Asia.
Every single one of our successes is like spitting in sovoks' faces. We enjoy it;)
"Every single one of our successes is like spitting in sovoks' faces. We enjoy it;)"
To Mait
Taking into account the amount of money we poured into your economy the result is very meager to put it mildly. Do you expect wealthier EU nations to sustain you forever? Forget about spitting start working.
Grigory,
Don't act as if Estonia was a taker in USSR - every single kopeck spent here was amply compensated with goods, resources, land. Even now we're paying dividends - the industrial waste from those badly planned and utterly useless factories doesn't clean up itself, and of course it's us who have to provide the workers of said factories with new employment.
In a decade, two tops, we've reached equal levels of development with our neighbors as we enjoyed before the sovok investment spree. Sorry, but utter mismanagement of a whole country for half a century takes a while to recover from. Rest assured, soon enough we'll be putting more into EU than we receive.
John Wrote:
Don't you also find it a little odd that the official map of Poland includes big parts of Germany. Never heard Poland complaining about that gift from Stalin.
Maybe if you strayed a little further back from the second world war and the stalinist era, you would notice that large parts of Germany, ukraine and etc. Belonged to the polish-lithuanian commonwealth that where seized in a joint armed invasion of Russia, germany and Prussia.