Litwa, Łotwa, Estonia

The article compares ethic parties in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The author reconstructs the context in which ethnic parties were established, development of the organizations as well as their ideological profile. The second part of the article is devoted to the role that the parties played in the processes of inter-party competition, especially on the national level. Due to the fact that the parties in Latvia and Lithuania managed to obtain seats in the European Parliament, the article emphasizes their role in programming the interests of national minorities in Europe.