{"id":314,"date":"2020-03-24T14:23:24","date_gmt":"2020-03-24T13:23:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/siemvaneck\/?page_id=314"},"modified":"2026-06-06T17:20:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T15:20:47","slug":"vrije-opdracht","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/svjmedia.nl\/siemvaneck\/afstuderen\/vrije-opdracht\/","title":{"rendered":"The hedgehog in Russia\u2019s backyard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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“I remember packing my evacuation bag,” says Ieva Krivickait\u0117 (34) in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. “I had zero knowledge of how to do it: I was stuffing things into this little bag. It was a really weird time, where everyone was in a lot of panic. But time passed, and everyone got used to the situation. Everyone unpacked their bags and ate their canned fish.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was the wake-up call, not only for Lithuania but for the whole of the EU. The Russian bear had woken up, and its borders were not sufficient to tame its aggression. For the Baltic states, this fear felt familiar. Moscow has been a neighbour and enemy of Lithuania since the 14th century. The last time Russia killed people on Lithuanian soil was at the Vilnius TV tower in 1991, a living memory for most adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, the uncertainty has returned. The possibility of a Russian invasion is no longer unthinkable. As a NATO-member, an invasion of Lithuania, which has been called the Achilles’ heel of the EU, will trigger Article Five. An attack against one, is an attack against all. Who are the people on our frontline?<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“Everybody would sing about Lenin.” Krivickait\u0117 sits behind her desk at the state-funded National M. K. \u010ciurlionis School of Art, the largest music and fine art specialist school in the country and the only professional ballet school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“He was our father and whatever. During the Soviet occupation, the regime used song celebrations as a means of propaganda. You would have tens of thousands of people in one place, and you could control which songs they had to perform. But the clerks regulating these were not superintelligent and did not always understand what the music meant to people.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Ieva Krivickait\u0117 (34)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The Baltic way<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Krivickait\u0117 was head of communications at the Song Celebrations in 2024, an event that unites the whole country and takes place roughly every four years. One of the world’s largest cultural festivals. \u201cWe had one million people watching on TV while we only have 2.8 million people in the country, including babies and kindergartners,” she says with a proud smile. Most Lithuanian folk music is structured around war, family, love and nature. It was these folk songs that kept Lithuania united during the Soviet occupation. “They would sing seemingly innocent folk songs that actually carry so much meaning. It was a rehearsal for our singing revolution.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lithuania declared the restoration of independence on March 11, 1990. In 1989, around two million people stood hand in hand from Tallinn through Riga to Vilnius, a human chain stretching 676 kilometres across all three Baltic states. They called it the Baltic Way. A peaceful demonstration, singing for their freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That tradition did not stop there.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Folksongs <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In an old theatre hall, with red carpet and purple fold-down chairs, the room fills with the sound of voices. On the raised podium, men and women stand in a circle, backs to the audience. One large chandelier hangs overhead. Here rehearses the Ratalio Folk Ensemble of Vilnius University, the oldest city folk ensemble in Lithuania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The building dates to the mid-19th century and was built by the Vilnius Junker Infantry School. It was used for military purposes until 1915. Now it is filled with folk songs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Emilis Varzinskas (22) is a third-generation folklore singer. His mother and grandmother rehearsed here before him. He is continuing this legacy. “Here we save our culture”, he says proudly. “We try to show people the folklore of all the regions, how they sang, how they danced, how they played instruments. Keep in mind, this is a country that has been occupied for a long time. We were occupied before the Second World War, we were occupied after. We were a country in medieval times, a country between the wars, and now again after the 90s. We are proud that we saved our culture.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Anna Krasuckyt\u0117 (22) studies music performance at Vilnius University. She has been part of the ensemble for as long as she can remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Only in this way can we actually get the knowledge from our ancestors. You start to feel how they felt, and you find recognition for your feelings in those songs.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her, the folklore is not just cultural preservation. It is protection. “The only way we can protect ourselves is by going deeply into the culture and knowing who we are. Ukraine is a good example; they fight with their songs, gathering in communities, singing together.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We gather around campfires and sing our traditional songs. At that point, we feel really calm. Because we know that no matter what, we people will have the country in our hearts.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Mindaugas Kasivlis (26) left and his folklore group during a wednesday evening repetition.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Ratalio folk ensemble is the oldest in the country. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Lithuanians grew elephant skin. The threat was always there, nothing that is happening now is surprising. And in the meantime, they built their country.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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If you walk the streets of Vilnius, you walk in a Western European city. McDonald’s, runners walking along the Neris river and skyscrapers shining in the sun. But it is this city that feels overcompensating, every bus, government building, or public area has the EU flag. Not unnecessary. Since joining the EU and NATO in 2004, investment in the country has grown steadily. The whole of Lithuania is under construction. Wages grew by 9.1% in 2025, more than double the EU average of 4.1%. It has been called the unicorn of start-ups, one of the fastest-growing fintech hubs in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My generation has an incredible life in Lithuania,” says Krivickait\u0117. “Ever since we were born, the situation has been getting better and better. We have opportunities that our parents could not even dream of. Going to study abroad, having the ability to travel with passports that allow us visa-free travel in many countries. Getting increasingly bigger salaries. I mean, we have a great life here.” Yet not everyone is staying to enjoy it. She knows people packing their bags for Spain and Turkey. “They do not share the same sentiment that I have.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vilnius is within artillery range of Belarus, the Russian satellite state. Ever since the war in Ukraine, defence experts and intelligence services have warned that the Baltic states are next. Lithuania shares a 300-kilometre border with Kaliningrad, the heavily militarised Russian exclave. The Suwalki Corridor is a 104-kilometre land connection between the Baltic states and their NATO allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This vulnerability is why Germany deployed its first permanent military presence in Lithuania since the Second World War. There are currently close to 1,200 German troops stationed, and the number will scale up to nearly 5,000. The permanent base is being built in Rudninkai, approximately 35 kilometres south of Vilnius, close to the Belarusian border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“If the Baltic states were left alone, their territories conquered, NATO destroyed, the whole trust in European solidarity would collapse. Think of what that would do inside Russian society. Everyone would forget the losses and challenges in Ukraine.”<\/p>\n\u2014 Giedrius \u010cesnakas, Baltic defence expert and former adviser to the Ministry of Defence in Lithuania.<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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“If Russia saw the possibility of a relatively short campaign and uncertainty within the alliance, they would use it,” says Giedrius \u010cesnakas, Baltic defence expert and former adviser to the Ministry of Defence in Lithuania. “If the Baltic states were left alone, their territories conquered, NATO destroyed, the whole trust in European solidarity would collapse. Think of what that would do inside Russian society. Everyone would forget the losses and challenges in Ukraine.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I read Russian political philosophers and international relations thinkers in the original. When I taught geopolitics to Austrian and Belgian students, I would translate these texts into English and present them to the class. They were shocked. Because Russians treat people differently, they treat costs differently, and they have a different worldview. And believe me, if they see the possibility of putting the European Union on the ropes, they will.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A military plane flies near the Holy Mother of God Church <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Russia has already been testing this line within the Baltic states. By cyberattacks, drones, and even aircraft violating the airspace. In October last year, the Lithuanian armed forces reported that a Su-30 fighter and an Il-78 refuelling tanker flew 700 metres into the country while performing a refuelling exercise in the neighbouring Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Testing NATO is also what Belarus seems to be doing, floating giant balloons with cheap crates of cigarettes dangling beneath, closing down Lithuanian airspace. Foreign Minister K\u0119stutis Budrys told the BBC last December that he believed the balloons were a form of political blackmail at Europe’s eastern border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Lithuania wants to be the best boy in the classroom,” says \u010cesnakas. “We have invested heavily in defence over the past years. Now we are the biggest spenders on defence in NATO, 5.3% of GDP this year. We have been sleeping for a very long time, since 1992. Society was pushed out, defence funding was not at 2%. We were lagging.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u010cesnakas has spent years examining the concept of total defence, the idea that every blood vessel within a society is ready to defend itself. Children in Lithuanian kindergartens learn how to apply a tourniquet. When he was young, basic civil training was standard, how to put out a fire, how to act in an emergency. Those lessons were scrapped around 2000. “We thought we lived in a different world, as most of the West did. And then we saw Russia’s aggression in Ukraine in 2014, and especially in 2022, you need a prepared society to withstand all these challenges. People with skills who know how to react in uncertainty, who are willing to contribute to resilience. This strengthens the country itself.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Lithuanian parliament building<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

One of the most vivid examples of that willingness is the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, a voluntary paramilitary organisation that has seen a sharp rise in membership since 2022. Krivickait\u0117 is one of its members. She studied abroad, knowing full well she would return, to contribute to her country, working in the public sector where the pay is far less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At the end of the day, you have to take care of yourself. If Russia invades and Article 5 works and the allies come to our rescue, then great. But we have been seeing Russia testing where that line is.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She would die for Lithuania. She signed for it when she joined the Riflemen’s Union. “I would be honoured to give my life for my country. Better to give my life than live the rest of it with the knowledge of what I could have done.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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To understand her conviction, it is good to look back at Lithuanian history. Just after the Second World War, the Soviet regime deported 130,000 Lithuanian inhabitants, about 4.5% of the country’s population. Politicians, wealthier farmers, priests. Designed to dismantle the foundations of an independent state. When Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in February 2022, Lithuanians did not need anyone to explain what was happening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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“During the first year of the war, there were more Ukrainian flags on the street than Lithuanian,” says Krivickait\u0117. “It was clear to everyone that we were next. We were rooting for them as if they were our own. Immediately, people started donating huge sums of money. But as time passed, people got used to the situation. People started donating less, you cannot keep this tension and this readiness for long. At some point, we entered the phase of getting ready. That is when I decided to join the LRF. Because when something starts, you are too late.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

According to Eurostat, Lithuania was among the top three EU-member states with the largest number of Ukrainian citizens holding valid residence permits relative to the size of its population at the end of 2021. Before the full-scale invasion had even begun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Krivickait\u0117 trained for half a year. “There are two tracks,” she says. “One more physical and gun-oriented, and one more brain-based, non-arms training. Theoretical lectures and outdoor training, covering everything from general first aid to how to survive and function outside.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“It comes back to the song celebration. To the feeling of unity, belonging and immense responsibility. We are responsible for this small country, and everyone has to contribute to maintain our independence.”<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Source: <\/em>Krivickait\u0117<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Like the rest of Europe, Lithuania built its society under the nuclear umbrella of the United States. With Washington’s commitment to NATO now in question, that foundation feels less certain. For a small country sitting at the edge of Putin’s Iron Curtain, the stakes could not be higher. His ambitions, as Lithuania knows better than most, do not stop at Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We don’t have many choices,” says \u010cesnakas. “Our strategy is basically to be the best ally the United States has. We cannot allow ourselves to speak harshly about the United States.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have to be a small hedgehog, with longer spines, steel spines, that would be much more difficult for Russia to swallow.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paralyse, freeze up, be afraid<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Mindaugas Kasivlis (26) has been part of the Ratalio ensemble since 2018, but had to leave the folklore behind to serve nine months in the military. Lithuania was the first EU country to reintroduce compulsory conscription, in 2015. He served at the \u0160iauliai Air Base, working closely with the NATO air police, what he called a holiday city compared to other battalions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“At first I felt bad. Why was I picked? Why can other guys avoid this? But I had to be truthful to myself. I was going to learn something new. The service depends on how you look at it, if you say it will suck, it will suck.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He came back to the ensemble the moment his service ended. But his time in the army left him with a clear credo. “The worst thing you can do as a Lithuanian, and the best thing you can do for Russia, is to freeze up. To be paralysed, to be afraid. To stop working, stop paying taxes, stop contributing to society.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

“I personally feel that we are becoming a bit too fractured. And it is not only those who are pro-Russian who are doing this, but also those who are maybe a bit too intens. Yes, they are aggressors; they are committing war crimes. But your neighbour who speaks Russian, just because he speaks Russian, he is not committing those crimes. If you exclude him just because of his language, you are basically preparing him to become what we call a useful idiot.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The threat is not only at the border. “I hear how older people get scammed and propaganda spreads through Facebook groups,” he says. “The bots just keep writing comments that divide society. You can feel the tension growing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When he finished his service, Mindaugas went straight back to the folklore ensemble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We are living our best life today,” says Emilis. “Of course, there is always something to rage about. But it is like a small part of heaven. And if the devil were to come to heaven, it would be ruined, and it would take a long time to rebuild it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It comes back to the song celebration,” says Krivickait\u0117. “To the feeling of unity, belonging and immense responsibility. We are responsible for this small country, and everyone has to contribute to maintain our independence.”<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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St. John’s church bell tower<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":301,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-314","page","type-page","status-publish"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe hedgehog in Russia\u2019s backyard - Siem van Eck<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n