Noboru said: ^I don't wish the first Option on those People, either. It should be enough imho if an ethnic Minority can integrate within the Country. By that I'm referring in the first Place to speak the Language fluently, to act and behave like someone from the ethnic Majority in Public and to accept the respective Country's Law and Order.
<...>
Sooner or later, I think it's in both Europe's and Russia's best Interest to stop any Hostilities between each other and to form a common Economic Area.
I think what Russia is missing is a Form of "Genuflection" in which Putin (or whoever will be President after him) would officially apologize for the Atrocities the Soviet Union and its Satellite States have done at its Command.
Yeah, of course, nobody should be allowed to break law or public order because of their ethnicity. Though I think that the idea of cultural integration is not universally popular (or working) these days. In the case that we are discussing, though, I think it's hardly the biggest problem, since the two cultures are not too far apart. I mean both are Christian at least.
The language is a bit trickier though. There's this question of secondary state languages, which can be seen as viable, if we think that Russians comprise about 20% of Lithuania's population.
I'd like to see the relations between Europe and Russia becoming warmer. But it didn't work out in 90-s for some reason. Putin was all for integration and friendship before 2007, as it seems.
I guess, in the end there will be some form of genuflection. But a lot of things should coincide for it to happen (unless Russia will be forced to do it by other countries; damn, I hope not). As of now Russians don't have a unified opinion on it anyway, every ex-Soviet or ex-Eastern Block country has its own version of history, and often this version ends up dumping everything bad on Russia. It has reached such a degree that there is a popular opinion both inside our society and outside it that we should all be killed outright (I am so not exaggerating, there're even parties whose leaders express opinions like that), so it's kind of volatile nowadays.
For Russians the best way would be to find a new idea/identity and discard the past dispassionately.
But in all honestly it looks more realistic that the reconciliation would come after the coming big war with islamic terrorism. si-igh.
Anyways, I kinda feel bad talking about Russia in the thread about Baltics. They have enough of tasty bread dishes, good milk products, Middle Age architecture and pretty ornaments to be fawned over in a Casual section without me dragging politics in the topic. |