MOSCOW PAPER CALLS FOR MILITARY OCCUPATION OF BALTIC STATES.

The extreme right-wing newspaper Zavtra (no. 17) said that the Russian Army must recapture Estonia and Latvia to prevent NATO from achieving a “strategic bridgehead” there. These countries also threaten Russia because they “persecute” ethnic Russians and serve as a base for criminal activities directed at Moscow. Following the occupation, the paper said, those “involved in discrimination against ethnic Russians” must be deported to the West. While such calls have often appeared in Russian nationalist media, Zavtra’s comments represent the first time that this paper has sought to formulate “pragmatic” reasons for reoccupation of the Baltic. Moreover, such “pragmatic” ideas about other issues such as Chechnya which were originally found in this paper increasingly have found their way into official government statements.

Arms Across the Estonian Boarder.