Vilnius may rename the Pushkin Literary Museum, excluding the name of the poet from the name.

A decision on this will be made next week.

“The return of the historical name is in line with the activities that the museum is currently carrying out,” TASS quoted the Vilnius city government as saying.

It is noted that the authors of the initiative propose to rename this cultural object into the Markučiai Manor Museum.

“In the will of the last owner of the estate, Varvara Pushkina, we see that this is exactly what she called this property of hers,” the statement says.

The general education school in Klaipeda, Lithuania, which previously bore the name of the Russian writer Maxim Gorky, was renamed the Klaipeda Port Progymnasium.

The local city council supported the corresponding proposal of the administration of the educational institution.

Prior to that, in Lithuania, the Kaunas City Council approved the renaming of the Alexander Pushkin Gymnasium into the Kaunas International Gymnasium.

According to local media, the former name was "too narrow" to characterize the variety of services provided by the educational organization, where teaching in Russian became one of the options.

The Russian Drama Theater in Vilnius was also renamed the Vilnius Old Theatre, and the new name appears on its website.

In addition, the Lithuanian commission of the capital's self-government on historical memory stated that, as part of the process of de-Sovietization of public space, it was necessary to rename Rusu Street (Russkaya), as well as the square named in Vilnius in honor of the writer Petras Cvirka.

Also in the structure, they demanded to replace the metal covers of sewer manholes, on which the abbreviation LSSR appears, emphasizing that by renaming these objects, Lithuania will leave "less space for Russian" soft power "and propaganda in matters of history."

Space for Russophobia

It should be noted that similar "transformations" are taking place in other Baltic countries.

Thus, the Ministry of Justice of Latvia has prepared a draft law designed to rename streets throughout the country "with Russian surnames."

This was reported by the united Latvian radio and television news portal lsm.lv.

According to him, in Riga they want to change the names of Pushkin, Lomonosov, Turgenev and Eisenstein streets.

As specified, Pushkin Street will be named after Karl Mühlenbach, who compiled an explanatory dictionary of the Latvian language.

In total, the Ministry of Justice of Latvia intends to replace 98 geographical names throughout the country.

  • Russian streets in Riga.

    Crossroads of Pushkin and Gogol streets

  • globallookpress.com

  • © Viktor Lisitsyn

In Estonia, in Tartu, the student “Russian Ball” has lost its traditional name - now it is the “Ball of the Society of Slavic Cultures of the City of Tartu”.

According to the organizers, this was done so that "there was no discomfort and rejection from some side or from some segments of the population."

However, they acknowledged that the renaming of the event may have a negative impact on the number of its guests.

Russophobic trends in the Baltics have also covered the education sector.

In particular, Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Simonyte noted that in the republic "there is a certain intoxication with Russian culture", and advocated the popularization of the Polish language instead of Russian.

She proposed to make Polish the most popular second foreign language in the country's schools instead of Russian.

At the same time, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of the Republic, Russian as a second foreign language remains the most popular among students in Lithuanian schools - it is chosen by up to 68% of students.

The Lithuanian authorities also expect to reduce this figure to 30%, and then completely abandon Russian language lessons in schools.

At the same time, the authorities of neighboring Latvia have already decided to ban the study of the Russian language in all educational institutions.

The President of the Republic, Egils Levits, last December called this measure a "historical step."

The campaign to eliminate the Russian historical heritage continues in the Baltics.

In early January of this year, the Estonian government allocated more than €900,000 for the dismantling and transfer of Soviet monuments "from public space."

In Tallinn, they claim that these monuments "threaten security."

Previously, it was about "replacing Soviet tombstones with neutral ones."

There are up to 400 such objects. 

Prior to this, a number of monuments to Soviet soldiers had already been demolished in Latvia.

"A Form of Blasphemy"

Experts, for their part, state that a full-scale campaign to abolish all Russian in the Baltics is only gaining momentum.

“Trends such as the aggravation of chauvinism and racism towards Russians and Russians are observed in the West in general, but in Lithuania, Latvia and Poland there are many more objects to which this practice of abolition can be extended.

The pan-European Russophobic trend is to make it as if Russia does not exist at all, as well as Russian culture, ”explained RISS expert Oleg Nemensky in an interview with RT.

So, the classic Alexander Pushkin did not please Lithuania "only because he is Russian," says the analyst.

“Russophobia, like another form of ethnic hatred, is inevitably a form of blasphemy.

Now, neither in the Baltic States in particular, nor in the West in general, one can say that something connected with Russia can be good.

Russian is denied and condemned totally.

However, ignorance of Russian culture will greatly impoverish both the Balts and the Westerners in general spiritually.

But, obviously, the political expediency here outweighs the spiritual and cultural interest.

Because in order to prepare a big proxy war with Russia, it is necessary to carry out the maximum demonization of the Russian Federation, ”Nemensky believes.

  • Ministry of Justice of Latvia

  • Legion Media

A similar point of view is shared by the chief researcher of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nikolai Mezhevich.

According to him, the fundamental task of a large-scale Russophobic campaign is to cut off a new generation of its citizens from Russian culture and heritage.

“Reduce them to wild nationalism.

After all, it is typical for a nationalist that he perceives any more or less coherent nonsense in his own language as a cultural monument, and he simply does not see cultural values ​​that are outside his country, because they are broadcast in another language, ”said Mezhevich in talking to RT.

The analyst also pointed out that the Russophobic agenda in the Baltics comes mainly from local authorities.

“The people of Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia don't ask for anything in particular.

Today, the political establishment of these countries decides for itself what citizens need, what language they should learn first.

But I believe that resistance to this anti-popular and discriminatory course among ordinary people, especially Russian speakers, will grow.

However, under the current leadership in the Baltic states, this is unlikely to give a tangible result, ”the expert said.

Mezhevich explained why the idea of ​​abolishing Russian is taking root among a part of the nationalist-minded population of the Baltics.

“Neither in Estonia, nor in Latvia, nor in Lithuania has a full-fledged national culture appeared, and when there is no one’s own culture, then someone else’s, especially as rich as the Russian one, causes irritation.

In the Baltics, radically inclined sections of the population perceive something only when it is tied to the national language and has nothing to do with either the Russian Empire or the Soviet Union.

But if, for example, the periods associated with Russia are deleted from the history of Latvia, for example, then there is practically nothing left, no culture.

There will be only a nationalist pseudo-culture,” the analyst argues.

At the same time, experts state that the authorities of the Baltic countries, devaluing everything Russian and Soviet, are hard closing their eyes to the fact that the economic situation of these territories under the USSR was much better than now.

“Their industry has become much poorer, as is the rather provincial economic model in general.

The main source of income for these states now is EU subsidies for confronting Russia and unwinding a head-on clash between the Russian Federation and the West, ”Nemensky believes.

In turn, Nikolai Mezhevich recalled that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in Soviet times had a full-fledged, comprehensive and diversified national economy.

“Now, in all three countries, only European subsidies remain.

If this assistance disappears, an unprecedented crisis will erupt there, since these states do not produce anything, but their authorities are still shouting Russophobic slogans the loudest of all, ”concluded Mezhevich.