Watch the conversation or read the condensed transcript. The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals. Vilkauskaite, Dovile O. The Balts came to settle large portions of modern-day Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, and northern Poland. In accordance with a secret protocol within the MolotovRibbentrop Pact of 1939 that divided Europe into German and Soviet spheres of influence, the Soviet Army invaded eastern Poland in September 1939, and the Stalinist Soviet government coerced Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania into "mutual assistance treaties" which granted USSR the right to establish military bases in these countries. Nobody in Polandor, for that matter, anyone else involved in the regions securitywould claim privately that defenses against Russia are adequate. What followed after the Baltic States regained their independence was economic turmoil, as these countries tried to transition their economies to capitalism. Forests cover over half the landmass of Estonia, Devonian sandstone cliffs in Gauja National Park, Latvia's largest and oldest national park, Jgala waterfall is the highest natural waterfall in Estonia, Gastilionys cliffs in Kauno Marios Regional Park near Kaunas, View from the Bilioniai forthill in Lithuania, Sand dunes of the Curonian Spit near Nida, which are the highest drifting sand dunes in Europe (UNESCO World Heritage Site). Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy is a shadow of its former self.. Eva-Maria Liimets, Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, hopes a NATO meeting in June will "make permanent decisions" about how to strengthen Baltic security. Three of NATO's members are nuclear weapons states: France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Russian president got many things wrong about invading Ukrainebut not everything. Since 2003, there is coordination between the two organizations.[21]. NATO cooperation . The tripwire forces in the Baltic states are currently hostagesa reminder to the Kremlin that an attack on what Russian hard-liners regard as renegade provinces would also mean tangling with Britain, France, and Germany. The Baltic region is not rich in natural resources. up as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. The Finno-Ugric tribes would eventually become the Estonians. During the interwar period the three countries as well as Finland and Poland sometimes were collectively referred to as limitrophe states (from French language), as they together formed a "rim" along the western border of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union. Indeed, Russians are still Estonias biggest ethnic minority today, comprising 25% of the population. Estonia fought a successful war of independence against Soviet Russia in 19181920. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. Latvians, together with Livonians, who are another indigenous group in the country, make up 62% of the population. In Latvia and Estonia, the president is elected by parliament, while Lithuania has a semi-presidential system whereby the president is elected by popular vote. [23], Estonia usually was the best performing country in terms of energy security, but new assessment shows that even though Estonia has the highest share of renewables in the energy production, its energy economy has been still characterized by high rates of carbon intensity. Burnt-out Russian tanks seized by Ukrainian forces last year have gone on display in recent days in the capitals of the three Baltics states, Since Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia three states on NATOs eastern flank scarred by decades of Soviet-era occupation have been among the top donors to Kyiv, The prime ministers of the three Baltic countries have urged the International Olympic Committee to ban Russian athletes from next years Paris Games because of the war in Ukraine and say a boycott is a possibility. (when Erastothenes mentioned Baltia in an Ancient Greek text) and possibly earlier. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. Delivered Wednesday. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Today, ethnic Russian immigrants from the former Soviet Union and their descendants make up a sizable particularly in Latvia (about one-quarter of the total population and close to one-half in the capital Riga) and Estonia (nearly one-quarter of the total population). A flag-raising ceremony of the three. The pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. The Baltic states are bounded on the east by Russia, on the southeast by Belarus,on the south. Russias growing military presence in Belarus highlights the vulnerability of the Suwalki corridor, the thin neck of land connecting the Baltic states and Poland. [18] Other exceptions included Sweden, which was the first Western country, and one of the very few to ever do so, to recognize the incorporation of the Baltic states into the Soviet Union as lawful.[19]. Ukrainian civilians are given military training in Kyiv, February 2022. After the end of the Cold War, NATO added 14 more members from 1999 to 2020. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia the Baltic countries located in north-eastern Europe are now members of the EU and NATO. (thesis, University of Connecticut, 2013). Initially, many Estonians, Latvians, and Lithuanians considered the German army as liberators, while having hoped for the restoration of each of the three countries' independence, but instead the Nazi German invaders established a civil administration, known as the Reichskommissariat Ostland. "Russia perhaps needs to see this is not an isolated act of a small country of 10 million people (the Czech Republic) but that there is true sense of solidarity across the EU or NATO," he said. With the advent of Foreningen Norden (the Nordic Associations), the term was no longer used for Sweden and Denmark. The black hole in the regions security is Germany. A spate of tit-for-tat expulsions has plunged ties between Russia and countries of the former Soviet bloc to their lowest point since the fall of Communism, prompting Moscow to accuse at least two of them of deliberately wrecking relations. Overall population fell in each of the Baltic states in the years following independence, primarily because of the return emigration of Russians to Russia, as well as other out-migration to western Europe and North America. Security correspondent from 2003 to 2008. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. NATO Is Dangerously Exposed in the Baltic. [43], LithuaniaGitanas NausdaPresident of Lithuania, EstoniaKaja KallasPrime Minister of Estonia, LatviaKrijnis KariPrime Minister of Latvia, LithuaniaIngrida imonytPrime Minister of Lithuania. Even to this day, most of the three countries' adult population can understand and speak some Russian, especially so the elderly people who went to school during the Soviet rule. Each was staffed initially by diplomats from the last governments before USSR occupation. standing, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. The Baltic peoples efforts paid off, however, as by the beginning of the 21st century, the three countries enjoyed sustained economic growth, and would soon be admitted to both NATO and the European Union. And I havent even mentioned the five-nation Nordic Defence Cooperation framework, the French-led European Intervention Initiative, and, of course, the European Unions own nascent defense efforts: battle groups that mainly exist on paper. All three are today liberal democracies, with unicameral parliaments elected by popular vote for four-year terms: Riigikogu in Estonia, Saeima in Latvia and Seimas in Lithuania. Lithuania is the most populous of the Baltic States, with a population of just under 2.7 million. The current divide between Lutheranism to the north and Catholicism to the south is the remnant of Swedish and Polish hegemony, respectively, with Orthodox Christianity remaining the dominant religion among Russian and other East Slavic minorities. rs worth well over $400 billion. The call for an additional force presence . The Lithuanians managed to preserve their independence in part because their land, which consisted of dense forests and swamplands, was less accessible. This reality gives the alliance flexibility with regard to NRFAs terms, she told VOA by email. [26], As a part of the EU from 2004, Baltic states must comply with the EU's regulations in energy, environmental and security spheres. This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 15:16. After the Baltic states had restored their independence, integration with Western Europe became a major strategic goal. The term Baltic countries (or lands, or states) was, until the early 20th century, used in the context of countries neighbouring the Baltic Sea: Sweden and Denmark, sometimes also Germany and the Russian Empire. Artis Pabriks, Latvia's Minister of Defense, tells VOA that if Russia does not like NATO expansion, then Moscow can stop threatening its smaller neighbors. Delivered Monday-Saturday. Fact: NATO has taken defensive and proportionate steps in response to a changed security environment.In response to Russia's use of military force against its neighbours, Allies requested a greater NATO presence in the Baltic region. In fact, in 1236, a chieftain named Mindaugas managed to unite some of the Lithuanian tribes into one political entity. For more than 20 years, Estonias counterintelligence service has published a hard-hitting annual report about Russian subversion and other threats. NATO also has overwhelming air power superiority that would factor into any battle with Russia in the Baltics, Plesch pointed out. Lithuania, in contrast, achieved the best results on carbon intensity of economy but its energy dependence level is still very high. Putin still fumes over the Baltics decision to join NATO, seeing it as a betrayal of Western promises. Weekly update on developments in India and its neighbors. The Baltic States also had to develop new laws and constitutions so that they could make themselves into democratic states. It would be good to test that assumption with realistic, hard exercises where decision-makers can practice surmounting the bureaucratic and physical obstacles hampering effectiveness in real time. Delivered Thursday. Denmark has upended its previous defense posture, which discounted any need for territorial and regional defense. [23] Other studies add other indicators to this list: diversification of energy suppliers, energy import dependence and vulnerability of political system. The Soviets attempted to prevent these countries from seceding through economic blockades. A curated selection of our very best long reads. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on No country in the region has enough of these defensive systems, and some have none. The area that now constitutes the Baltic States was first inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes. The Baltic states[a] or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. And how might that be impacting the world? NEW FOR SUBSCRIBERS: Its capital, Vilnius, is at the forefront of Western support for Kiev. Essential analysis of the stories shaping geopolitics on the continent. If Putin had hoped to weaken NATO, the very opposite has happened, with Finland and Sweden on the cusp of joining the transatlantic military alliance. The United States has been regularly flying Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic-eavesdropping planes over Ukraine since late December. [16] This process contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, setting a precedent for the other Soviet republics to secede from the USSR. That reflects a much deeper issue: Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, NATO has been an organization designed for peace, not war. The challenge is how to address Baltic security concerns while avoiding steps that would lead to a more unstable situation with Russia in the future. All are part of the European Union (EU) and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). They were also part of what Georges Clemenceau considered a strategic cordon sanitaire, the entire territory from Finland in the north to Romania in the south, between Western and Central Europe and potential Bolshevik territorial ambitions. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Baltic_states&oldid=1142637920, Bottom-up regional groups within the European Union, Articles containing Lithuanian-language text, Articles containing Latvian-language text, Articles containing Estonian-language text, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2016, Wikipedia articles in need of updating from August 2020, All Wikipedia articles in need of updating, Articles containing Swedish-language text, Articles containing Russian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. At least formally, most Western democracies never considered the three Baltic states to be constituent parts of the Soviet Union.