econtalk

More Russian antics

Arriving in Vilnius on Thursday, I saw lots of cars with Lithuanian flags in support of the basketball team, which sadly lost to Spain yesterday in a close contest with way too many LT turnovers that were not quite offset by a barrage of 3-pointers by Jaisaitis, who hit 5 of 10 trays, and others. I was lucky to see the whole game, which was not only on LTV but also on a Spanish channel TVG. But I digress. Also in evidence were cars with one LT and one Georgian flag or even two Georgian flags. I had lunch in one of the few Russian restaurants here and it was virtually empty. Was it a boycott?? During lunch a Lithuanian friend said that now Lithuanian truckers have been denied the usual allotment of Russian transit permits to transport goods to Russia. Ok, it is not as big a deal as cutting off oil flows to the refinery here, which as been going on for two years, but it is another way the Bear is tweaking what it considers little unfriendly neighbors.

One Lithuanian remarked that the little countries are suffering from the geopolitical contest between the USA and Russia. And this morning a Russian commentator had a theory that is probably widely believed in Russia, that the Georgians were acting as surrogates for the Bush Administration to create a foreign affairs crisis that would help McCain get elected. In this theory, the "October Surprise" came early. Ok, I am not much inclined toward conspiracy theories; but I have become cynical enough about the Bush-Cheney crowd to feel they are entirely capable of such an act. For Russian, who tend believe all kind of conspiracy theories of the West against them, this is quite understandable.

posted by econtalk @ 10:37 PM