re: Was this quote by Pat Buchanan in 1999 prescient or common sense?

quote:

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The Baltic States were independent between the two World Wars, and never embraced Soviet identity.

They identify as European, not Russian / Soviet.

Riga had an influx of native Russians due to the Naval presence, but that is the exception in the Baltic.

Look at the post-Soviet citizenship requirements of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia - the most restrictive of the former Soviet Republics.

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Fair, but incomplete.

There are plenty of Ukrainians who would say they never considered themselves Russian, either.

The Baltics are more analogous to Finland, IMO. Finland stayed out of NATO because everyone (including the Finns) knew it was too close to the bone. The USSR was never going to allow NATO on its borders. As long as Finland stayed unaligned, through, they were mostly left alone.

Could make a similar case for the Baltics and Russia. They slipped into NATO before Putin was in a position to object, but I highly doubt it could happen today.