DISINFO: The Baltic countries are developing apartheid regimes, discriminating ethnic Russians
SUMMARY
The Baltic countries are developing apartheid regimes, like South African, in order to discriminate against ethnic Russians there under the guise of European values.
RESPONSE
There is no apartheid system in any of the Baltic states. The Estonian Government considers the process of integration in the Estonian society and the promotion of Estonian citizenship as one of its priorities and has facilitated a naturalization process for all legal residents who wish to acquire Estonian citizenship . The number of people with undetermined citizenship (grey passports) in Estonia is gradually decreasing: according to the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the number is 80,010 (6% of population, as of August 2016), compared to 500,000 (32%) in 1992. The naturalisation process in Latvia is amongst the most liberal in Europe. Furthermore, the Mayor of Riga is of a mixed Russian-Latvian origin. Lithuania granted citizenship to all its residents at the time of independence redeclaration day willing to have it, without requiring them to learn Lithuanian.