Are the Baltic States Part of the Post-Soviet Space?

The authors speculate to what extent the concept of the post­Soviet space is relevant to Estonia, which is regarded as the most successful case of Euro­integration. To answer this question, they analyze the speeches of Estonia’s political leaders, the content of Estonian TV news channels, and the official version of national history represented by post­Soviet school textbooks. Although the Estonian leaders judge their country as completely meeting the criteria of EU­member states, unlike its “poor relatives” from Southern Europe that are known for their numerous crises, financial problems, and corruption, the authors conclude that the Soviet heritage in Estonia has not been yet overcome. The contraposition to Russia still dominates the official discourse, national identity, and paradigm. There are no new elements of identity building focused on the integration of society into a political nation. The political discourse has not been altered since the time of the USSR’s disintegration. Transmitted to different social strata and the young generations via mass media and school education, it places obstacles in the way of leaving the Soviet past and blocks trends to new developments. The arguments being in use to solidify the Estonian national identity have been already re­interpreted in Europe. Though “Freedom House” rates Estonia as a country with a fully independent media, the Estonian TV news­channels cover Russian topics in the same way as the other post­Soviet countries that are not rated in the same way. The narratives in history textbooks are constructed in line with the official politics of national identity building. The history of the country is substituted by the history of the eponym nation. This approach excludes the more balanced vision of Russia’s role in Estonian history. The image of Russia is reduced to the state’s government and to the political leader in power. The Russian “bugbear” helps to manipulate public opinion and compensates for the national complex and emerging Euroscepticism . As a result, the European space of institutions coexists with the post­Soviet space of public fillings, phobias, perceptions, and anti­Soviet (anti­Russian) myths.

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