The Republic of Lithuania, Northern Europe

Friday, March 20, 2015

Russias Aggression On Its

Baltic Neighbours
RussiasinterventionwithUkraineinabattleof
ProRussiaseparatistsvs.Ukrainemilitaryiscausingan
uproaramongstitssmallneighbors:Latvia,Estonia,and
Lithuania,
and
theirNATOallies.Lithuaniagrows
uneasy,takingthetimetoadvisecitizensonhowtoreact
1
incaseofwar
,astwoRCAFCF18sintercepted
a
russianspyplane
.
____________________________________

RCAF fighters intercepted an Il-20, a fighter plane like this one.

____________________________________

TheCanadianpilotshadevensaidthatithad
actually
2
breachedLithuanianterritory
,asprovedwiththe
photographicevidencetheyhadtaken.
ThesmallBaltic
Countriesdefenceministerscametogetherandfoundit
3
necessarytomakeitthe
numberonetopic
oftheirmeeting.

Britainhasbeenseeminglyenthusiasticaboutbeingableto
helptheirsmallerallies,astheirprimeministertoldITVNews,
Ithinkwhatisimportantisthatwesenda
veryclear
message
toourNatopartnersandalliesthatwebelieveinNatoandwe
believeintheirsecurity.TheUShastakensomeconcernand
sent3,000soldierstoLithuania,Latvia,andEstoniaasof
th
4
March9
.
OtherNATOpartnershavedefinitelytakenthis
situationforconsideration,astheystartedtakingextensive
measuresfortheirsmallassociates,hopingtostrengthenthe
NATOmembersmilitary
defenseinthelargestmultinationalnavalexerciseinthe
5
BalticSea.
Lithuaniaisquicktotakeaction,duetoa

possiblefearfromtheirpastwithRussia,fortheBaltic
CountrieswereoccupiedbytheSovietUnionfor
fivedecades.
AndduetothefactRussianbombers,fightersand
transportplanesmovedbetweentheRussianmainland...which
3
islocatedbetweenPolandand
Lithuania
.

Havingitsmilitary
convertedintoaprofessionalonein2008,onlyhavingabout
15,000troops,itsquitefrankthatLithuaniadoesnthavemuch
todefendawholecountryfromRussia.Theirdefensechief,
GeneralJonasVytautasZukas,saysThelackofsoldiersis
1
criticalandposesarealthreattonationalsecurity.

ThedistasteforRussiaisongoing,astheG7
countriesmadeitclearthattheywouldalienateRussia
fromtheirnuclearsecuritysummitinTheHague
Russiahaspickeduponthisquickly,asVladimirPutin
senthisforeignminister,SergeiLavrov,afterit
becamecomprehensiblethataG7meetingwouldbe
6
heldtoexcludeRussia.

Russiaalsoretaliatesonthebacklashithasreceived,
thinkingotherwiseofthesituationandaccusingNato
ofusingthesituationinUkrainetoexpandfurther
3
towardsRussiasborders.
___________________________________
WorksCited

1.
2.

3.
4.

Haghighat,Rahman."PsychiatryinLithuania:
thehighestrateofsuicideintheworld."
PsychiatricBulletin21.11(1997):716719.
Tracevskis,RokasM.,andTassosCoulaloglou.
"LithuaniaStillSuicideCapital."LithuaniaStill
SuicideCapital.N.p.,04Apr.2002.Web.19Mar.
2015.
Alyanak,Leyla."SuicideinLithuania."Suicidein
Lithuania.N.p.,n.d.Web.19Mar.2015.
Subata,Emilis."Drugandalcoholabuseasa
socialphenomenon."LithuanianHuman
DevelopmentReport1999(1999).

TheBleakFutureofSuicide
PreventioninLithuania

SuicideinLithuaniamostlyderivesfromalcoholismdueto
beingoccupiedbytheSovietUnionduringWorldWarII.
Duringthistime,manyseekedalcoholinattemptsof
relievingtheirstress,whichwasmorethanoftenkept
hidden.Approximately70%ofsuicidesarerelatedto
4
chronicalcoholism,depressionandsocialexclusion.
Itsthegovernmentsdutytoprotectthewellbeingofits
citizens.Thoughthegovernmentacknowledgedtheissue
onsuicide,andevenadoptedaprogramfoundedbylocal
psychologists,theireffortsareinsufficient.Theirsaturnine
responsetothismattersetsbadprecedentandplight
amongstitsnation.Itshouldbedealtwithfirstoninstinct
andproperlyorganizedforthesakeofthepeoplewho
decidedtoretainloyaltytothem.

_____________

SuicideisatragicissueinLithuaniathathasntgotten
enoughattentionoractioncalledupon.
Lithuaniansare
takingtheirlivesinbrutalways,liketheviolentmethodof
1
hanging,
andthenationappearstoattempttosolvethe
problem,butinaslowfashion.Localpsychologist
volunteeredtohelpontheirownaccord.But,soonrealized
thattheyneededthegovernmentsresourcesinorderto
properlyimplementtheirsolution.Despitethe
governmentsadaptationtotheprogram,theirlevelof
effortissubpar.Asitwassaidthatitwouldstilltakea
2
fewyearsbeforethesituationreallychanges.

Itshouldbe
thoughtofasaprioritytodevelopaneffectiveprogramthat
isabletopreventandhelpthosewhoareexperiencing
selfdestructivebehavior.

ItissaidthatinLithuania12peopletaketheirlivesdaily,and
100,000peopletaketheirlivesannually.

_____________

WorksCited

1.

AssociatedPressinVilnius."LithuaniatoReinstate
CompulsoryMilitaryServiceamidUkraineTensions."The
Guardian.N.p.,24Feb.2015.Web.9Mar.2015.

2.

Vankin,Jonathan."RussianSpyPlaneViolatesNATOAir
Space,RunOffByCanadianFighterPilotsInLithuania."
Inquisitr.N.p.,9Nov.2014.Web.9Mar.2015.

3.

Luhn,Alec."AccusationsFlyaroundRussiasBaltic
DeploymentsasTensionsEscalate."TheGuardian.N.p.,11
Dec.2014.Web.9Mar.2015.

4.

Koplowitz,Howard."UkraineCrisis:USSending3,000
TroopsToLatvia,Estonia,LithuaniaForMilitary
Exercises."InternationalBusinessTimes.N.p.,9Mar.2015.
Web.9Mar.2015.

5.

PressAssociation."RoyalNavySendsWarshiptoBaltic
amidContinuingUkraineTensions."TheGuardian.N.p.,8
June2014.Web.9Mar.2015.

6.

Watt,Nicholas."NatotoBolsterDefencesofBalticStates
amidUkraineCrisis."TheGuardian.N.p.,24Mar.2014.
Web.9Mar.2015.