Latvijas un Krievijas 1998. gada attiecību krīze: cēloņi un norise

The article is dedicated to the crisis in Latvian-Russian relations during the spring of 1998, as well as the related developments and preconditions, which already emerged during the 1997. The author of the article has formulated and discussed the main reasons of the crisis, as well as researched the unfolding of the crisis, yielding insights from the perspective of Latvia, the West and Russian Federation. Latvian and Russian language press, as well as the related scientific literature have been considered as the main sources by the author. The article consists of three main chapters. The first one characterises the gradual escalation of the crisis in Latvian-Russian relations during the period from March 1997 to February 1998, the second chapter explores the development and manifestation of the crisis in 1998 from March to April, whilst the third chapter views the de-escalation of the crisis during the summer of 1998. The research brought a conclusion that the crisis in Latvian-Russian relations was most likely intentionally created by the Kremlin in order to slow down the Euro-Atlantic integration process of Latvia, as well as to divert the Russian society’s attention from the emerging domestic and economic crisis.