Kremlin plans to renew influence on Baltics under ecology pretext

This is stated in a joint investigation by the Dossier Center and Delfi Estonia, LRT, Expressen, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Frontstory.pl, Süddeutsche Zeitung, VSquare, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Yahoo News, and Re:Baltica, Ukrinform reports.

"The Kremlin is creating a project called the Baltic Platform, which should launch in the fall of 2023. The program will become a new base for agents of influence in Europe — they will lobby the Kremlin’s interests under the pretext of protecting the ecology of the Baltic Sea," the investigation says.

As noted, in order to attract European experts to the program, its masterminds plan to exaggerate environmental problems and simulate catastrophic scenarios for the region’s future.

Journalists recall that as of April 2023, the representative offices of Russotrudnichestvo agency have been shut down in six European countries. Also, the German prosecutor's office started an inspection of the Russian House in Berlin over a complaint about pro-Kremlin propaganda. It is noted that "Russian Houses" are traditional bases for Kremlin’s agents of influence, while many of their employees are in fact intelligence operatives.

As the journalists found out, in January 2023, Russian scholars with the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and Institute of World Economy and International Relations developed for the Russian presidential administration a plan of bringing the Baltic States, Scandinavian countries, Poland, and Germany back to the table. According to the Dossier Center, the plan was approved by the presidential office for border cooperation, which is overseen by the deputy head of the presidential administration and Putin's ally (who was responsible for the Ukraine issue), Dmitry Kozak.

According to journalists, the document is entitled "Baltics at the Turn of the Century: New Challenges and Development Imperatives." It describes the concept of a new international influence project and provides recommendations for implementation in the Baltic discourse.

As noted, the authors of the project relied on the EU Global Strategy of 2016, which recognized the need for selective interaction with Russia. At the same time, the following areas where dialogue with the Russian Federation cannot be avoided are highlighted: climate issues; the Arctic; maritime safety; education; scientific research; and border cooperation. The authors included them in the concept of the Baltic Platform.

The program is dedicated to the problems of the Baltic Sea ecology but, with its help, Kremlin agents would be able to establish contacts with foreign "opinion leaders" - politicians, scientists, climate activists, etc. This is needed to maintain ties, expand the foreign network of influence, and lobby the interests of the Kremlin in the international arena, say investigators.

At the same time, based on the Baltic Platform, Moscow plans to create an analog of the Council of the Baltic Sea States - RDBM 2.0, set to replace the actual Council, from which the Russian Federation was expelled in March 2022.

Another goal of the project is to mitigate the consequences of the "militarization of the region". However, the document stops short of revealing how the Kremlin intends to achieve this amid the ongoing war with Ukraine.