The Digitization of the Baltic Independent newspaper FundRazr Project
In this six-month story, I'm sharing new, public news sources from the Baltic countries' journey to Independent Press. Due to the Kremlin’s deep investment in Disinformation, the untangling of one’s country from the Kremlin propaganda stream is worthy of investigation.
The Press stories within were found the old-fashioned way by reading, because searching for ‘Press’ in the optical character recognition scans would return the entire scanned collection. The news sources are from our FundRazr, where we are scanning the 1991-1995 The Baltic Independent weekly newsletters in the world’s first digital archive.
We are about halfway through the scanning project; the next update will show scans to the beginning of Summer 1993 when the Red Army withdrawal from Lithuania heated up. In my previous updates, I have provided story suggestions and analysis of the Troop Watch column.
This piece is the first full-length history story from the new scans. The full pages, stitched-together halves, might be interesting to the Readers too, so I've included them here as well. If you like these updates and think they are valuable with my stories, please consider donating to the FundRazr.
Context. The Value of a Free Press after 50-year Occupation
The Baltic countries emerged from a Soviet milieu that dominated, hyper-subsidized, and controlled the Press for over 50 years.
Imagine putting the same attention and resources to the Press, that you put to your Military. The Kremlin treats its propaganda with the same seriousness as any of its war efforts. That was (and is) the USSR-Russia.
According to this Wiki article about printed media in the USSR, the Soviet Russification is clear. Jump down to the Section on Circulation. Press that was printed in languages to non-Russians was suppressed, and large government subsidies kept the Press running overtime.
We now proceed to step through a series of news articles that reflect the pressures to publish uncensored press and books.
Nothing threatens Russia more than a Free Press. The First Phase the Baltic countries' journey faces of Russian external pressures.
“Russian Minority Rights” vs. Press Freedom of the “Nationalists”
January 9, 1992. 4.5 months after the putsch that brought down the USSR.
The story of 🇱🇻Latvia's Press Battle Ownership of the Popular Front Newspaper.
In this dispute published in The Baltic Independent between current and former Chief Editors, of the Popular Front press newspaper, we see in this newspaper microcosm, a very old and standard Kremlin talking point: the so-called "Russian minority rights" appearing.
We also see the word “nationalists,” which is frequently used in a derogatory way by the Kremlin propagandists. The context for the Latvians who use it is about those people (Latvians) who preserve their nationhood and culture.
Nationhood-erosion from within is a typical method used by the occupiers in their territories to continue exterminating nations. In Latvia, 50 years of genocide (deportation and replacement with Russians) resulted in a significant decrease in the number of Latvians. The Latvians were only 52% of their own country's population in 1991.
The press battle over ownership was difficult to manage democratically. Chief Editors were elected by vote. In this January 1992 press battle, we see the results of too few Latvian numbers.
WHO is the minority here? Latvians are a minority in many towns in their own country (June 1991 full page article).
Any Latvian activity that required democratic processes faced significant friction. As a European democratic country, the Latvians were expected to do just that, after 1991.
The newspaper Baltiiskoye Vremya belonged to the Latvian political party: The Popular Front, that carried the Latvian Re-Independence Movement (1980s/ 1990/ 1991). By vote, Russian [propagandists] became new owners of the Latvian Popular Front newspaper, Baltiiskoye Vremya, which supported Latvian Re-Independence.
In the dispute, we see almost a comedy of changed and broken locks and printing equipment hidden away by the Staff supporting the voted-out nationalist Editor. A dispute between old (nationalist) and new (propagandists) Chief Editors and the newspaper staff (nationalists) of the Baltiiskoye Vremya.
- Popular Front <-- Popular Latvian political entity responsible for the success of the Latvian Re-Independence 1980s/ 1990/ 1991. They had a Popular Front newspaper: Baltiiskoye Vremya.
- Baltiiskoye Vremya Editor-in-Chief [Latvian nationalist] LOST Chief Editor position to new Editor [Russian propagandist]
- Baltiiskoye Vremya STAFF [Latvian nationalists] supported OLD Chief Editor [Latvian nationalist]
- New Editor [Russian propagandist] wanted to focus on so-called "Rights" of Russian Occupiers
- Baltiiskoye Vremya STAFF wanted to focus on Latvian Nationalist priorities.
- NEW Editors [Russian propagandists] of Baltiiskoye Vremya inventoried press and office equipment. Changed Office Locks.
- STAFF of Baltiiskoye Vremya [Latvian nationalists] and supporter of OLD Editor BROKE locks and hid press office equipment.
- Old Editor said the new Chief Editor violated Latvian press law. Newspaper folded
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The West was, and still is, mostly unfamiliar with the Soviet-Russian Russification policy. It is a slow genocide that was implemented at least 50 times on captured territories by the Soviets during the USSR period and, after 1991, on any territory Occupied by Russia. All in plain view.
“Russian minority rights” became the largest propaganda vehicle in Latvia and Estonia, carried by Yeltsin and his Kremlin cronies in the post-1991 years, during 'negotiations' of the Red Army withdrawal (finalized in 1998).
"Russian minority rights" was used in official policy (Karaganov's "Strategy for Russia") to fix a large Russian population inside of the Baltic countries that can be used as a lever in the next decades of intelligence operations.
The largest Lessons Learned that I see in my 1991-1995 Baltic Independent newsletters is there was not enough explaining by the Latvians to the West about how close they were to being exterminated.
And how every post-1991 vote that yielded a pro-Latvian result was a sign of Latvian nationhood success against all odds to the Occupants who wished to continue Latvian extermination. Any time you hear a Russian 'abroad' complaining about their 'minority rights,' they are indirectly pointing you to their decades-old genocide practices.
Paper Shortage for Printing due to unfulfillment of contracts to ‘former Soviet’ by Russia
February 7, 1992. Russia won't fulfill raw paper agreements for the former USSR press. "Although there are agreements with Russia for supplying paper, Russia won't send it to Latvia or to any other former Soviet republic and wants to raise prices higher than Western prices [...]."
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‘Soviet Style Habits’
February 14, 1992. The Baltic Independent faced challenges due to the "Soviet-style habits" of the postal authorities in Tallinn. I hope someone suggested a computerized labeling system to help!
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Continuing Challenges from Paper Shortages, Price Inflation, more…
February 21, 1992. Paper Supply shortages from Russiacontinue for 🇪🇪 Estonian and 🇱🇻Latvian Press. The new Baltic Governments haven't prioritized the PRESS function YET.
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Latvian Newspapers Appear Again with Help from the Government
February 28, 1992 🇱🇻Government stepped up to help with Press paper shortages. This 🇱🇻Government support looks like a transitory path to a free market to reduce the influence of Russia.
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Estonian Newspaper Prices Rise 10X—Transition to Internal Pressures
March 13, 1992 The 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹Press crises are decreasing, and the focus is shifting from external pressures (such as Russia) to internal ones. Rising newspaper prices are now seen as a major source of pressure. This example is in 🇪🇪Estonia.
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The Nordic Council Takes the Lead on Supporting Baltic Uncensored Books
The Nordic Council’s role at this time was critical for the development of the Baltic countries after 1991. It’s possible that the singular step to start publishing uncensored books set in motion more engagement between the Nordics and the Baltics that led to the Nordic-Baltic 8 (“NB8”), which is often mentioned today in the context of supporting Ukraine.
What is the Nordic Council?
🇩🇰🇫🇮🇮🇸🇳🇴🇸🇪 Nordic Council / Nordic Council of Ministers
- Nordic Council: A parliamentary body for inter-parliamentary cooperation among Nordic countries.
- Nordic Council of Ministers: An intergovernmental body focused on practical cooperation in areas like culture, education, environment, and research.
🇩🇰🇫🇮🇮🇸🇳🇴🇸🇪🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹 Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8)
- Members: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.
- Purpose: A political and practical cooperation format mainly focused on foreign policy, security, energy, digitalization, and economic collaboration.
- Established: Gained momentum in the 1990s after the Baltic states regained independence.
- Led by: Foreign ministries; coordination rotates annually among member countries.
While the Nordic Council did not have a formal role in the Nordic-Baltic Eight (NB8) alliance, it has been an influential background actor in shaping the broader context of Nordic-Baltic cooperation.
- Indirect Influence: The Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers helped set the foundation for regional cooperation norms, which the NB8 later built upon with the Baltic states.
- Shared Goals: Both promote regional stability, democratic development, and integration.
- Collaborative Projects: Sometimes NB8 projects or initiatives complement Nordic Council work, especially in digital policy, climate, and education.
Along with 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹 Newspapers, Free Press includes BOOKs. Imagine not having control over book content for 50+ years. ALL of the USSR's captured territories experienced such censorship.
Today, Russia still controls books wherever it can. Ask Ukrainians who have witnessed their publishing warehouses and libraries being destroyed, specifically targeted by Russia.
March 20, 1992. In the 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹countries, post re-Independence, their first large help for the publishing of independent Books came from the Nordic Counci.
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Hyper-Inflation Rampant- Wild Market Prices as the 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹 Countries Operate Free Markets
May 8, 1992. Five months into 1992, we clearly see the Baltic countries’ Independent Press.
What Follows for the survival of 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹Newspapers, is INTERNAL cost pressures. Now we have HYPER-INFLATION, making it tough to survive, but most newspapers did.
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The Red Army was Still in Place, however
Three countries, dominated by TREES. Yet, the Baltics did NOT have rights to their trees. The 100K Soviet Red Army was in place in many Baltic country forests. Generally, they were everywhere in the region: bullying, looting, sabotaging, and killing when they could get away with it.
May 8, 1992 The problem of the occupying Red Army, wasn't 'resolved' until late 1993 (🇱🇹), late 1994 (🇪🇪🇱🇻), and completely in 1998, when the Red Army cleared the military base 🇱🇻Skrunda.
In the 30+ years after 1994, one million former Occupants, including 100K Red Army Intelligence Officers the so-called ‘pensioners’ and their families, stayed in the Baltics. The Latvians in 2025 make up 63% of the population in their country, far from approximately 75% before 1940. Elections are still a numbers game.
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The Content of Press is Scrutinized for Ethics
July 10, 1992. A 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹's INTERNAL pressure. Press Ethics about CONTENT are now playing a role in the countries' Independent Press. The situation might seem more familiar to observers of Eastern Europe at this time. Bribery was commonly used to publish content. This press ethic aimed to prevent bribery.
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In Summary
In summary, looking backwards through the news, it took about six months from January 1992 to arrive at an independent, free-market (mostly) press in the 🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹 countries that was and is concerned about publishing ethics.
First, Russia applied heavy levers to influence EXTERNALLY the publishing activities of the Baltic countries; then, after a few months, when paper supplies were consistent, INTERNAL pressures dominated.
Future Baltic Independent Stories
The first year in the renewed independence of the three Baltic countries holds many lessons and provides a rich education in what is needed to untangle oneself from decades of Soviet-Russian occupation. The Kremlin's attention made the uncensored press a particularly challenging journey.
The rest of the ‘Firsts’ hold lessons for civics lessons for forming a (re)newed democratic country. Such lessons are applicable to today’s world as well.
Let me know if you have a preference for the next ‘First’ Story.
We covered:
First Uncensored newspapers published and sold ✔️
First Uncensored Books published and sold ✔️
First Uncensored Publishing house ✔️
What else in 1992?
First Places to House Diplomats with proper addresses and phone number
First Governments
First Stamps
First Gold reserves returned
First Currencies
First Banks
First Business Licenses
First Visa Border Control
First Auto License Plates
First Phone Country presence
First Internet Mail Hubs
First International Postal Codes
First Airlines
First City Police
First Armies/Territorial Defense Forces
First Constitutions
First or Renewed Citizenships
First Issued Passports
First Private Properties
First Privatization of State-Owned-Assets
First Criminal Code
First Justice System
First Jails
First Closure of KGB houses
First Acquisition of KGB records
First Acquisition of a former Red Army military site or region
First issued fines
