post-independence crack down

After gaining independence, Latvia decided to make it very difficult for all ethnic Russians who had immigrated to Latvia after 1940 to gain citizenship. To do this, they revoked these people's citizenship and then set strict laws that required a thorough knowledge of the Latvian language and history to gain citizenship. This effectively rendered a massive amount of Russians "stateless". As a response, the Russian government cut oil exports to Latvia, which had served as an export station for said oil. As Latvia had depended economically on these exports, this put a large amount of pressure on them to change their citizenship laws. The issue is discussed thoroughly here. Now, Latvia has some of the most liberal citizenship laws in the world, which is no doubt a consequence of them needing Russia to keep economic stability. I find it interesting that Latvia was so keen on putting its nose up at Russia and showing the strength of their independence, a privilege long awaited, only to have Russia show its strength right back and ultimately get there way. This just shows how dependent on Russia Latvia was and still is. Does this mean that they are truly independent? If it was that easy for the Russians to get their way in that dispute, what else can they get there way with? Again, the issue of Latvia being much smaller and ultimately defenseless towards the bigger Russia rears its ugly head. In a way, I don't think that Latvia will ever be able to be truly independent of Russia unless Russia itself splits into many smaller counties. I understand that the EU has an obligation to protect Latvia if Russia ever decided to get really nasty, but a part of me also believes that if Russia really wanted Latvia, they would get it and the EU wouldn't care enough to step in. Maybe if we were talking about France or Germany, they would, but not for Latvia.

Laura and Mia: Do you think that your respective countries have gained full and complete independence? Does Ireland still depend on England? Would they be able to do anything if England decided they wanted to occupy Ireland again? Laura, how long did it take for the Netherlands to get on their own two feet and get rid of all Spanish influence? How did they do so? I see more hope for both of your regions, but Latvia is in a very scary position and might be for some time.