It is clear that in the upcoming years Russia's propaganda machine and state institutions will continue working in this direction. This means that Latvia must be prepared to face increasingly aggressive attempts of falsifying history by the Kremlin. These attempts could manifest as:
 · accusations of genocide or its justification;
 · demands of reparations;
 · demands to Western countries to extradite Latvian SS legionaries residing there to be tried in the world's most "humane" court in Russia.
The increase in such activities most likely has two somewhat logical explanations. First, the Russian regime is becoming increasing less popular with people becoming more and more tired. In such circumstances, the Kremlin has to divert the public's attention from the present unpleasant reality. This can be best done either by emphasizing Russia's historical achievements (victory over Nazism) or by promoting the battle against historical external enemies (for instance, Latvian Nazi collaborationists).
Second, Putin himself is most likely interested and engaged in shaping the policies related to history in Russia. Everyone knows that Putin has always been very interested in historical topics, and he has strong ideological beliefs in this regard - you can read this in an article by The National Interest titled Vladimir Putin: The Real Lessons of the 75th Anniversary of World War II.10
For those who haven't read the article, Putin quite openly states that:
 · Western nations are the ones to blame for starting World War II, not Nazi Germany or the USSR;
 · Poland itself is to blame that it got divided;
 · The Baltic states willingly joined the USSR;
 · By ignoring the interests of modern Russia, the West risks repeating (!) the scenario of World War II.
Knowing all of this, a question comes to mind - what does Latvia and its decisionmakers in different spheres intend to do to counter the looming "history war" with Putin's Russia?
I personally believe that it is about time for the state to pay greater attention to local sphere of history. Additional funding must be given to conduct new historical research and to translate the historical papers (books) already made. The salaries of historians and academic staff need to be raised, students who want to research issues related to the history of Latvia-Russia should receive scholarships. In addition, complex historical topics should be discussed not only on the expert level but also by the entire society.
In other words, Latvia must become proactive and begin explaining its historical perspective to its own public, Western partners and Russia itself too. Emphasis should be put on regional cooperation between historians from the other Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine, as well as the opposition of Belarus and Russia.
Here's a good way to begin - if the Russian Embassy decides to post absurd tweets, we should send them a letter or protest or summon the ambassador.
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