Discourse of russian federation embassy in lithuania: identity analysis

Discourse of Russian Federation Embassy in Lithuania: Identity Analysis The collapse of the Soviet Union created a chaos within the borders of the former Eastern bloc and has left Russia, as a successor state, without clear identity. Former multinational communist project encouraged debate of what elements should define what is “Russian” and two most profound theories have gained attention: i) supporting the idea of self-identification and political loyalty, backed up by Eurasianist thought, and ii) distinguishing the Slavic ethnicity as a fundamental factor, supported by Slavophilism/pan-Slavism. Debating sides have developed different paths for modern Russia – Eurasianism, supporting the multinational geopolitical idea within the boundaries of former Soviet space, more inclusive towards non-Slavic peoples, and Slavist ideals concentrating on the ethnic Slavic nations, that should be coordinated by Moscow. As both ambitious projects are meant to restore the Great Power status to Russia, the question occurs, which is preferred in Lithuania, considering the historical and cultural ties and the Russian diaspora, residing in the territory of the Baltic state. The aim of the paper is to identify the nature of identity promoted by the discourse Russian embassy in Lithuania, considering it is an official representative of Russian Federation. The theoretical background of the study is based on the principles of Eurasianism and Slavophilism/pan-Slavism that reflect the attitudes towards Lithuania, shared history, compatriots living in the country, and the West in general. The theoretical basis is used to extract the nature of narratives, necessary to identify which of the thoughts is being promoted and/or reflected. These narratives are adopted by highlighting fundamental principles and further on based on four topics – 1)History and its interpretation; 2)Concept and policy towards Compatriots; 3)Bilateral Lithuanian – Russian relations; 4)International relations within the Western – Russian cleavage. The object of analysis is the official messages published by the Russian Embassy in Lithuania, categorized according to the mentioned thematical groups within the methodological framework of discourse analysis