MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament, or "senate") Vice Speaker Konstantin Kosachev believes anti-Russian provocations in Baltic Sea waters perpetrated by Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia is a scenario that is fully within the realm of possibility.
"I do not rule out any provocations on the part of these three countries [Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia]. We are observing how the armed forces and weaponry of their NATO allies are increasingly being permanently deployed on their territories. I think that the first priority for any [attempted] provocation strike would be focused on trying to create problems for Russia in using the waters of the Baltic Sea and its straits," the senator said at a press conference.
That said, he asserted that Russia "will have enough forces and means, both military, political and economic, to prevent the Baltic Sea from being transformed into a NATO lake."
According to Kosachev, by distancing themselves from Russia and joining the European Union and NATO, the Baltic states "undoubtedly found themselves on the periphery of global politics." He noted that perpetuating the shopworn myth of the alleged Russian threat is essentially the only way for the Baltic countries to remind larger powers that they exist "and to stake out their own spot that’s a bit further away from the periphery, and just a tad closer to the center of decision-making in the West."
Kosachev stressed that, in reality, this purported threat does not exist. "Yet the Baltic states will exploit the entire myth surrounding [the alleged Russian threat] to the maximum degree possible because that is all they really have with which to market themselves to their NATO and EU allies, and myths will, alas, simply fade away on their own if one does not keep feeding them," the politician said.
The senator also asserted that a conflict between Russia and any NATO country would be "extremely dangerous and unpredictable for all the participants of such a clash." "Here in Russia we clearly realize this and are doing everything not to end up at this [advanced] development stage of a conflict. But, not everyone in NATO understands this, while many [ambitious European] politicians are seeking to build careers in these murky waters [of baseless anti-Russian rhetoric and scaremongering]. We are keeping our eyes clearly on these political figures. It is a clear and present danger and the risks are real, but Russia will do everything to mitigate these risks," the Federation Council vice speaker pledged.