In the open letter to the U.S. ambassador (TBT 826), the author, Aivars Slucis, exhibits most of his paranoia. He has got the crystal ball that predicts a 30-50 year long cold war, one that may or may not become true. But he also knows that the majority of ethnic Russians still living in Latvia belonged to the military or police forces. Where are the statistics that proves this? Where was the Russian 5. legion when Latvia declared independence? The majority of Russians voted for independence, too, no? Who were the hundreds of thousands of Russians withdrawn from military bases, the working class? People who retired in the first half of the 90s will not be a big problem in the near future (and will be no asset for Putin’s plan to build up the Asian part of Russia); in a pessimistic scenario they will be a burden for the homes of the elderly. Look at the recent elections for Russia’s parliament: Turnout of voters was extremely low. That does not indicate an especially high identification with the Russian state, does it? Instead, ethnic Russians are naturalizing and involving themselves more and more in Latvian politics. That is what integration is about. Deportations and ethnic cleansing were the crimes against humanity of the last century. Latvians have suffered enough from that. We all should have inhaled enough human rights and learnt the lesson: that we solve controversies peacefully and with political arguments. Thirst for revenge is a bad advisor.
