Russia threatens to take Baltic states to court over alleged rights violations

Russia has announced plans to bring the Baltic states before the International Court of Justice, citing alleged human rights violations, though some of its claims rely on inaccurate data, LRT.lt reports.

A joint report by the Russian and Belarusian foreign ministries claims that over a quarter of a million people in Latvia and Estonia—primarily ethnic Russians—lack citizenship following the Soviet occupation. However, official statistics show lower figures: 159,000 in Latvia and 58,000 in Estonia. The report appears to use outdated data, as the number of stateless individuals has declined due to naturalisation and demographic changes. In 1995, nearly a third of Latvia’s population lacked citizenship; today, the figure is around one in ten. Lithuania, which granted citizenship to all former Soviet-era residents after independence, has no such stateless population.

The report also accuses Lithuania of historical distortion, alleged support for Nazi crimes, poverty, food shortages, and declining birth rates. It claims Lithuania pursues a “Russophobic policy” and is gripped by “militaristic madness” over perceived Russian military threats. Another disputed claim involves a Latvian kindergarten where a child was allegedly forced to stand in a corner for speaking Russian—a story that emerged in Latvian media years ago but was never verified.

Eugenija Kovaliova, partnership director at the Open Lithuania Foundation, told LRT.lt that the rights of Russian speakers in the Baltics are being used as a political tool. She noted that Russia selectively highlights issues, such as the treatment of Red Army soldier graves, to push narratives about protecting Russian speakers—a tactic previously used in Ukraine. “The fact that some people in Estonia and Latvia lack citizenship creates a grey zone, but Russia still seeks any pretext to claim that the rights and freedoms of Russian speakers are being violated,” she said.

Kovaliova added that the Russian-speaking community is not monolithic, and language alone does not determine loyalty. “There are also non-Russian speakers who read, agree with, and even publicly promote Russian narratives. Language is not the only criterion for loyalty to Lithuania,” she observed.