3:30 Small Correction: It is a Lithuanian-Swedish cable NOT a Latvian-Swedish one 4:09 The Russian tracks are wider than the European ones, not vice-versa 4:15 - 4:30 Natural Gas is quite important ;-) #Oups On another note, as you can probably tell the video schedule is quite irregular right now. I'm trying to improve the quality which also requires me to learn how to use After Effects (properly) and takes quite a bit of time. So I just wanted to mention that I can't promise to upload regularly right now, I'll do my best though. Cheers!

Divorce? It is an escape, not a divorce. They were never ”happily married”, they were abducted!

Thank you for using the term "REgained their independence". Most videos I've watched fail to mention that. We are not new countries crated in 1991

Support to Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian people! Stay strong 💪 Greetings from Poland 🇵🇱

We are not escaping russian culture and language. Every Baltic country has theyr own languague and culture. That is why we managed to live trough occupation, rusification and all this crap. First written Lithuanian book "Katekizmas" came to life earlier than first russian book.

Shout out to my Baltic brothers and sisters, from Germany!

The ban on Russian state TV isn't really a loss for journalism because there's barely any intergrity left. It's pure propaganda at this point.

As a Russian I can say, that I am really ashamed of what my ancestors did with the Baltic countries. I am happy that you managed to do a lot to make your independence stronger. Hope, one day, Russia will stop its ridiculous aggressions and become a peaceful country among other peaceful nations. Greetings from Moscow.

Much love to our Baltic European brothers from Greece ❤️

A tunnel between Tallinn and Helsinki would be about as long as the Channel Tunnel and would help to fully integrate the North East with the rest of the EU.

quiet ukrainian whisper: wait, you could do that?

There is no divorce. The Baltics were forced to be married by the soviets.

I find it ok to ban Russian state media. One does not have to listen to lies about one being told in front of oneself.

Most important - Baltic states didn't divorce from ussr but REGAINED their independence which was lost due to soviet occupation in 1940.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, you are the greatest!

Oh I love that you did something on the Baltics! Its really sad that "European" Documentations tend to forget our Eastern Member States and their unique situations. Could you maybe do something on the European Road vs Rail Situations? =)

1 correction: trade with Russia is dwarfed by trade with the EU, at least in Latvia, but I'm sure it's the same case in the other Baltics. "In 2020, Latvia’s biggest trading partners were Lithuania (17% of Latvia's total trade turnover), Estonia (10%), Germany (9%), Russia (7%) and Poland (7%)." "In 2020, exports to EU countries made up to 66% of the total volume of Latvian exports"

Love to 🇪🇪 and 🇱🇻 and 🇱🇹 from Finland 🇫🇮

Props to Baltic people for standing up! As a Russian person you have all my respect!

Great video, it really is densely filled with information and a ton of different sources. 👍

I love the video but as a train fan I can not stand silent when you said that the russian gauge was smaller than the european. it is the other way around. Eropean standard gauge is 1435 mm and russian standard gauge is 1520 mm. just a friendly reminder.

Good for the Baltic States. They have always been culturally part of the West. It's amazing the way they have preserved their own languages, cultural traditions and sense of nationhood despite generations of aggressive Soviet attempts at Russification. One of the most moving documentaries I have ever seen is "The Singing Revolution" (2006), about the Baltic States' (especially Estonia's) road to self-determination and the restoration of their independence during the period of "glasnost" in the 1980s and early '90s. So many of the Baltic peoples were murdered by Stalin and the Soviets after the annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands, a large percentage in the small, sparsely populated countries), it approached something resembling genocide. It was also criminal the way the Soviets tried to erase the languages and cultures of the three small nations during their occupation. And Russia has never atoned for what they did to the Baltic states! But the Baltic peoples, with courage, determination and perseverance, won the day in 1991. My respect and admiration for these three brave small nations is boundless.

More like a escape from an abusive relationship Divorce is putting it lightly

There can be no irrational fear of russia, only rational. We in finland would have the exact same situation and problems to deal with today if we hadn´t made an almost supernatural effort to hold that bridge in ´44...

Me who Lives in Latvia🇱🇻 approves this

At first, it was not a marriage. When Germany occupied Belgium, France or Norway - was it a marriage?

Good reporting😃. I hope this gets high visibility

This is like... a lot of information condensed into 10 min. Nice job!

0:50 oh yes you forgot to mention what that really meant. Basically they banished wealthy Lithuanians/Latvians/Estonians from their homes to Siberia, and let those Russians occupy their homes to stay there and live as newcomers. According to Wiki during the banishes nearly 6mln people from all the USSRS occupied countries were banished to Siberia and other places where it was nearly impossible to live properly, out of those 6mln around 1-1,5mln people died before actually reaching the destinations they were sent to. From Lithuania alone nearly ~50k people were banished.

Excellent video: I speak Russian and Estonian and learned things here, which is unusual since I know this region very well. Liked, commented, and subscribed. Looking forward to seeing more of your great work!

The Baltics are lucky they escaped Russia. Hopefully Moldova, Ukraine, and Belarus can join them one day.

Nice channel. Thank you very much for the information!

if historically russia respected baltic state neutrality, when maybe baltic states be fine being neutral buffer zone between nato and russia. But now being neutral just means eventually they will be annexed by russia

Finland was part of the Russian empire

Your claim about the significance of economic ties between the Baltic countries and Russia is a bit exaggerated. Russia is for Estonia only the 7th biggest export partner and 6th biggest import partner. However, it is true that Estonia is having a trade deficit with Russia.

thanks for such an important video

Fantastic channel, so informative and fresh. Keep up the good work

A country that almost borders Germany to Japan vs three Countries combined smaller than England, that’s kinda scary....

We weren't ever married. Rather kidnapped and shamefully raped. I'm Latvian from Riga. And I'm glad, that in cooperation with our western friends, we can brake ties with Mongols. Special thanks to US and Canada.

great job! thanks a lot

If a person raped and crippled another person and then that other person ran away from the abuser, can you really call it a divorce?

There was an error at 8:42. The 3 seas initiative was started by Poland and Croatia and not by Poland and Romania. The modern Three Seas Initiative was launched in 2015 by Polish President Andrzej Duda and Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović. It held its first summit in Dubrovnik (Croatia) on 25-26 August 2016.

I'd love to visit the Baltic states, but alas I'm on the other side of the world in Australia. Before WW2, only Anglo Saxons and Celtic people were allowed to move here. The Australian govt wanted to really increase it's population through immigration and they chose Estonians as the first non-Anglo/Celt people to be let in. The Estonians were chosen to show the people here that these new immigrants were good people who would fit in well and contribute to Australian society. When the boat carrying the first Estonians arrived, the Australian officials on board asked all the young women to stand on the deck as huge crowds had gathered to welcome them to Melbourne. Once the Aussies saw all these beautiful young blonde women, they really wanted more immigrants and people from the other Baltic states were now allowed to migrate to Australia. So the Baltic states actually had a really significant impact on Australia. The govt officials really sold immigration to the population by asking those pretty young Estonian girls to stand on deck. It was a smart move. I even lived near the Estonian Club in North Melbourne (it's like a community centre, especially for the older generation as their descendants are completely Aussie now) and I really wanted to go in and explore. Anyway, you guys from the Baltic states have beautiful cultures but good grief your languages look really confusing!

A pretty good coverage. Nice work!

Thanks for the subtitles

Baltic states did everything right, Ukraine will do the same, even if a little late.

That was super interesting! Keep it up!

Just a bit of advice about graphics, particularly maps: Start wide, give the viewers time to get their bearings then zoom in or pan to illustrate your points, but don't over do it. On the whole I think you have chosen one of the best approaches, good quality audio recordings and the animated figure sidesteps all the "piece to camera" issues, lighting, appearance, etc.

I remember when Crimea was occupied, us within my family (in Latvia) literally had laid out plans what to do if the same happens here. Flee ir stay? How to flee? Where. That was actually pretty depressive.

Would be delighted to see an update taking into account the war in Ukraine & Finland joining NATO. I have long been concerned about the Suwalki Gap. Suspect it may be safer now.

Thank you very much, EXCELLENT.

Inicial map is incomplete, Finland was also part of the Russian empire

Well made video 👍

thanks this is very informative

Awesome vid

I think it's pretty clear why the Baltic countries (and pretty much the rest of the eastern EU member states) want to reduce their energy dependency on Russia, yet at the same time, I don't get why Germany is going against the trend by being very adamant with its Nordstream project with Russia? 🤔

Very good video! Love from a Latvian

Great analysis and a channel as a whole!

Bravo to the Baltic’s 🙏🏻

I've said this in the last video, but the subtitles still need a bit of work. atm they look like they were done automatically. Great video as always though.

We never married them. It’s disrespectful and dismissive of the genocide to imply we’ve voluntarily gotten hitched with the russifists. Stop making jokes about genocide, it’s simply never funny.

So funny to see hordes of russian trolls in the comments, like, who are you gonna convince, Vasia?

Thanks for the video from 🇱🇹.

Thank you the Englsih subtitle.

0:29. Finland was part of Russian Empire

Very in depth and well made video. Except for the last line, the Baltics will be able to escape Russian culture! It is in their northern heritage to conquer against all odds. The Baltics will one day be Nordic.

The map at 0:17 does not show Finland as part of the Russian empire. Not that I think it was a good thing, but to be accurate, Finland should be included albeit it had an autonomous status within the empire.

Excellent!!! As an American, I enjoyed learning about these Nations, their history, and current politics. You’ve earned my Sub. Looking forward to more from your channel

It is important to the baltic countries to enhance military integration with the NATO and to reduce energy dependence from the Russia.

6:19 Sadly it is the opposite way around, most often than not, a Latvian who doesn't know Russian can't get a job here. Which is absurd when you think about it.

Also, little subtitle correction: in 4:17, the subtitles say "clay beta" instead of Klaipeda. A funny little error, but might be confusing to someone who doesn't know better. At 5:57 it says "schools in Latvia", but the subtitles say "schools and Lithuania".

Thanks for the reminders, my teenage years exactly matched those of the Cold War (1979-1985).

Great video!

The Baltic Kountries are making all the smart moves.

Can u make a document about Silesia?

finland was part of russian empire too

It’s a little weird having a cartoon guy presenting such a serious topic but essential information. I love and support the Baltic countries. 🇺🇸❤️🇪🇪🇱🇻🇱🇹 I pray one day the Russian government will change and we can be friends and partners 🤷‍♀️ because Russian people deserve better.

here before 100.000 suscribers and before 5000 too, great content, this here is what the internet is for, non-state-controlled information, free of propaganda and fae news

Great channel!

This is a wonderfully informative video for a viewer in Canada, who knows very little about the Baltic countries, their history and challenges. However, given the breadth of issues covered, it would have been better delivered in a much longer video, allowing the viewer to absorb all the information. I had to watch the video three times, often repeating sections, to take it all in.

1:50 the chart is named Latvia and Lithuania meanwhile statistics are of Latvia and Estonia

Estonia is one of the rare countries that helps France by sending troops in Sahel to fight against djihadism

Can you make a video about the southern european economies?

Nice documentary. A slight error in spelling at the opening

!!! A lot of you are getting wrong impression about the ban of russian language. It's not what you think. In Latvia we have radio stations, newspapers and even TV channels in russian language. Some of them are state sponsored. We are expanding latvian language into russian schools (yes that is also a thing) so they could better adapt into our society, because a lot of russians don't know latvian language and it is harder for them to get a good job without the knowledge of language. We are actually helping them... And it think it's incredibly stupid that we still have separate schools for latvians and russians. We all should be under one roof.

No one blames the Baltics for trying to isolate themselves from Russia; however, that's a tall order given their physical proximity. Unfortunately the EU is in a state of perpetual existential crisis, and their failing demographics doesn't bode well for the Baltics if they go to far to isolate themselves from their biggest neighbor. Russia isn't in a much better position; however, they have a history of massive rebounds, and that should be concerning to the Baltics.

Awesome video! Also Listen to the “Eastern Sunrise” Podcast on any podcast platform to find out what’s going on in the business world in the Baltics and Eastern Europe!

Pretty accurate video.

Damn, I wonder why only Lithuania has like a 3% Russian population, unlike Latvia and Estonia.

Banning Russian propagandist state TV is very good decision. I grew up in 'Russian minority' area and I can affirm that a lot of them, especially older generation purposefully have never learned Lithuanian and were encouraged by Kremlins TV to detest their local communities, and country they are residing. They are explicitly or candidly racists towards Lithuanians and live in a bubble. Now situation is much much better after all the EU travelling and exposure to other cultures, but still Kremlin's influence is immense. The funny thing is though they don't want to move to Russia or when they go their they present themselves as foreigners :) It is a very peculiar consciousness, stuck in some sort of limbo, a fantasy that was never fulfilled, with confused identity, a lot of anger, resentment and jaded pride.

Bro how much time it takes after accumulating resources?

mistake at 4:05, the European train tracks are not wider, they are 1435 mm wide vs 1520 mm for the Russian ones

Map of Russian Empire is inaccurate. Finland was part of it back then.

For us in Saint-Petersburg, Baltic states has always been a resort and a favorite places for vacation. I know how strange it sounds, but we love you, the government in Moscow can do anything, but we really love you

At 1:00 you said 1945 but the chart and subtitles say 1935. Which one is it?

all three of them beautifull countries a lot of love to our eastern corridor

It is literally impossible for any of the Baltic states to be Russophobe. A phobia is a irrational fear. All the fears arent irrational with russia track record.

It was never a divorce since we never married them in the first place

Interesting countries caught in the middle of past conflicts war the effects and the direction for a better deal. Some times the answers are at home which is best. To development example resources from home to include tourist which can help to help for growth.

Error Russian Rail Track is wider than EU "Rail tracks in former territories of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union were constructed using broad-gauge track (1,520 millimeter, or roughly 5 feet). Most European railways west of the Baltic states - as well as 60 percent of the railways in the world - use standard-gauge track (1,435 millimeter)."