These are some of the labels used to describe the situation of the Baltic Russians. But their own voice is seldom heard.
Interesting information is available in a rich growth of sociological investigations.
The Russians in the Baltic area have lately been the subject of many sociological investigations, opinion polls, research reports and studies. One important reason is, of course, that their situation is described very differently by e.g. official Russian representatives and mass media, by the governments in Estonia and Latvia and by representatives of the international community. Russians representatives describe them as being a suppressed minority whose human rights are violated. Many Baits see them as a potentially disloyal fifth column, a spearhead of Russian imperialist ambitions. The Baltic Russians are seldom heard in political fora since most of them are without voting rights.