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Электронное приложение к журналу «Международная жизнь»
Authors: Vladimir Olenchenko, senior research associate, Center for European Studies at the Ye.M. Primakov
National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Candidate of Science (Law)
Nikolay Mezhevich, Professor, Department of European Studies at the St. Petersburg State University, Doctor
of Science (Economics)
IN 2016, Russian expert and scientific communities
continued research focused, as before, on elucidat-
ing processes going in the Baltic countries, primarily
concerning Russian-Baltic bilateral relations. The re-
searchers concentrated on defining the influence of
internal and external factors which form the policies
of the Baltic countries and determine the trends of
their economic development.
Among the most significant projects of 2016 special
mention should be made of events organized by MGIMO University, IMEMO RAS, as well as
the establishment of the Russian Association of the Baltic Studies (RABS), which has united re-
searchers of various scientific and educational institutions mainly located in the Northwestern
Federal District (NFD).
In April 2016, RABS initiated, with the support of the Alexander Gorchakov Public Diplomacy
Fund, the holding of an international research and practical conference "The Baltic Studies in
Russia" at Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University. Sixty-six Russian researchers from Kalin-
ingrad, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Voronezh, Pskov, and 13 experts from Germany,
Hungary, Belarus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, and Poland participated in the work of
the three sections, providing for a multifaceted and highly motivated exchange of opinions.
The Center for North European and Baltic Studies (CNEBS), operating within the framework
of MGIMO University, has also been involved in organizing the relevant activities.
Elaborating a new concept of the further development of Russian-Baltic relations obviously
presents a major academic and practical interest.
It was noted that the present-day leaders of the Baltic countries have continued to follow a
course aimed at maintaining confrontation in their relations with Russia. The confrontation is
being generated in a few areas listed below: planting Russophobia.
At the same time, experts underlined that such a line of conduct has not been formed by the
Baltic countries themselves.
In this context, according to the conference participants, a major role was played by the Baltic
countries' natives, who can conventionally be termed Western Balts.
It should be taken into account that proposals on incorporating the Baltic studies in the body
of the research on Northern Europe compete with the widespread ideas on an interrelation of
the Baltic states and the East European countries. Specifically, some experts believe that it would
Baltic Studies in 2016