Russia has long accused Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia of discriminating against Russian-speaking residents
Russia is set to take Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to the United Nations High Court over systematic repression against Russian speakers, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has announced, adding that the pre-trial phase of the dispute is nearing its end.
Moscow has for years sounded the alarm over the three former Soviet republics, which it accuses of restricting the rights of Russian-speaking minorities. It has accused the Baltic states of openly violating the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
Speaking to RIA Novosti on Sunday, Zakharova blasted Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia over theirs “refusal to negotiate and ineffective responses to Russian complaints,” stressing that this will lead to the opening of a case in the International Court of Justice of the United Nations (ICJ).
Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was working to draw the attention of the United Nations to repression against public figures and human rights defenders among Russian-speaking people in the Baltic states.
It accused the Latvian authorities of implementing the removal of dissidents from the country’s media space “under the false pretext of fighting ‘Russian propaganda.’ In Estonia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the rights of “non-titular” The population is clearly restricted.
All three Baltic governments have ruled out a possible ICJ case. Lithuania called the claim “completely baseless” and a Russian part “A campaign of lies and distortions aimed at discrediting the Baltic states.”
The Hague-based ICJ specializes in resolving disputes between states only under international law. The court was deliberately created without a binding mechanism, with that responsibility falling to the UN Security Council – where any of the five permanent members can use their veto power to block decisions.
Since breaking away from the Soviet Union in 1991, the three Baltic states have worked to distance themselves from Russia in many areas of life. The effort gained momentum in 2022 after the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.
In recent years, Latvia has moved to conduct general education in Latvian only, with Russian as a second language removed from schools and replaced by European Union languages. All three countries have also moved to block access to Russian-language media.
Additionally, around 60,000 people in Estonia have ‘unspecified citizenship’, while 175,000 in Latvia – around 9% of the population – are classified as non-citizens. These people cannot vote in national elections, run for office, and work in certain industries. In 2025, the Estonian parliament voted to amend the constitution, denying citizens of Russia and Belarus the right to vote in local elections.
