The statement would once have been laughable. But the disdain the Kremlin has for historical veracity exposes a re-invigorated intimidation of its former occupied countries of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Vladimir Putin stated self-confidently that the Baltic States were duly given to the Soviet Union in 1939 by Nazi Germany as a result of the 1918 peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk by which the countries were German property. Therefore, it would be ludicrous to apologize for occupying the Baltic States since the USSR didn’t occupy them.

Putin flippantly added that, although he consumed copious amounts of beer during university, his memory of his history professor’s lectures is unimpeachable.

Russia’s defense minister Igor Ivanov also stressed that the USSR couldn’t have occupied countries which they already owned.

Moscow’s disdainful and cavalier attitude also typifies the almost daily accusations and threats targeted mostly against Estonia and Latvia. With their constant repetition one might even develop an immunity to them.

But Russia’s ability to fabricate, falsify and delude without bearing any responsibility, without being challenged by higher authority, is at the very least disconcerting for its small neighbours to the west. A transgressor’s sense of impunity emboldens it. With media attention focused on international hot spots the concerns of the Baltic States are of low priority. With its super power self-image, Moscow knows it’ll get away with it.

Journalist Erkki Bahovski suggests that Russia believes that the destiny of the European continent is determined by empires. Small nations don’t have any role. Russians point to the suppression of Hungary’s revolt against the Austrian empire in 1849, which Russia helped to quell.

Similarly, the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact of 1939 between super-states Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union was a continuation of the same approach. Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has warned, that Moscow must curtail the international relations its different regions might have with foreign entities. He is also opposed to the parity small nations enjoy with large countries within many international institutions.

Both Bill Clinton and his under-secretary of state Strobe Talbott remember in their memoirs the gentlemen’s agreement offered by Boris Jeltsin in 1997 that the Baltic States not become NATO members. Thus an agreement between super-powers, by-passing the considerations of NATO’s constituent member countries, would determine the future status of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

This modus operandi – banal deception coupled with arrogant scorn for the smaller players – is the hallmark of Russia’s dealings with the geopolitical thorn in its side, the Baltic States.

It gives the Estonian Central Council in Canada definite challenges – to remind and educate Canadian politicians of the perils of smaller countries located in a strategically valued region. It’s a formidable assignment, perhaps even trickier than it was during the Soviet era when the issues were clear cut. In addition, Canada is presently consumed with the political drama on stage in Ottawa.

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