Russia as an irritant factor for the political elite of the Baltics in the context of election campaigns of 2010—2011: an expert perspective

Abstract

In the late 2010 — early 2011 a number of important electoral events took place in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. On October 2, 2010 Latvia held the elections to the Sejm, on February 27, 2011 the elections to local selfgovernment of Lithuania were completed, on March 7, 2011 Estonia finished the elections of deputies of the Parliament. Each electoral campaign deserved separate discussion panel in I. Kant Baltic Federal University with the participation of leading political scientists, historians, public and governmental figures from these countries. «Round table» discussions and further review provide valuable empirical data to analyze the current agenda among the experts of the Baltic States. A special interest is drawn to political assessment of the Russian presence as a factor of electoral activities of political elites in the Baltic countries. The general framework for the international expert discussions was set by A. Klemeshev, Rector of BFU, who denoted the timely relevance of country studies for Russia and the urgent necessity for Kaliningrad to open a research center to the study of the Baltic States. Strengthening of the international academic cooperation should become an important step for better understanding the specifics of development of the former Baltic republics. Elections for the Seim of Latvia actualized in political science the question of the grounds of the existing political system. A view that the political system in Latvia was based to a considerable, if not a major extent