National minorities in the Baltic states as a societal security category

Abstrakt

In this paper the main focus will be paid to national minorities being included into the Baltic states’ societal security concept. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion against Ukraine Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have updated their national policies to enhance their sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as national identity and social resilience to hybrid threats. Those activities resulted from particular societal security perspective based on cultural identities of a nation or an ability of a society to function and develop. The paper presents how Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia define the national minorities in societal security context. From the methodological perspective it is a comparative study of the three countries with an aim to unveil different directions, models and approaches to a societal security category. The key finding is that Lithuania and Latvia based their social security approach on national symbols, values and sovereignty, while Estonian concept of societal resilience takes its roots in trust in state institutions, security of critical infrastructure as well as protection of lives and health of citizens in crisis situation. As a result the states may apply different instruments regarding national minorities to build social adaptability to risks and challenges.