Russia’s soft power in Lithuania: the impact of conflict in Ukraine

• Latvian institute of international affairs: knygos tekstas

ENLithuania, being one of the more vocal critics of Russian foreign policy, is also a target of Russian soft power strategies. This chapter will take a look at five dimensions of Russian soft power policy in Lithuania: people-to-people, media environment, regional, strategic and business culture. The analysis shows that both Lithuania and the EU lack a comprehensive strategy, allowing Russia to maintain soft power influence in Lithuanian politics and culture even without fully accomplishing its primary goals. On the other hand, it is noted that the EU’s soft power measures play an important role in tackling Russia’s influence. The analysis is followed by recommendations for possible counteractions to the Russian soft power in Lithuania. [Extract, p. 185]