Aside from the Baltic Sea to the west, the Baltic States are bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the east by Russia, to the southeast by Belarus, and to the southwest by territory belonging to Belarus and Poland. The Baltic States would remain Soviet republics of the USSR for more than 40 years. Additional information on the regions physical and human geography can be found in the article Europe. He would later be assassinated, but the political entity he created would endure. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. rs worth well over $400 billion. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. 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). However, in June 1940 they were invaded and occupied by the Soviet. The predecessors of the modern Balts lived in a large swathe of territory south of the Finno-Ugric tribes, stretching west from territory that is now part of central Russia to the mouth of the Vistula River in modern-day Poland. [25] Due to their Soviet past, Baltic states have several gas pipelines on their territories coming from Russia. It was the birth of what would become the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which came to control the southern part of the Baltics, while Sweden controlled the north. The Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries was interrupted by Nazi German invasion of the region in 1941. FPs Ravi Agrawal spoke with two of the very best Russia experts:Angela Stent, a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the author ofPutins World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest, and Michael Kofman, the research program director of the Russia studies program at the Center for Naval Analyses. (Required). Doing that for the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuaniathree thinly populated states squeezed between Russia,. [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. NATO had no forces in the eastern part of the alliance until 2014, when it decided to deploy four multinational battlegroups on a rotational basis to the Baltics and Poland in response to Russias annexation of Crimea. As World War I came to a close, Lithuania declared independence and Latvia formed a provisional government. Many Baltic leaders hope a permanent NATO presence will be discussed this week when U.S. President Joe Biden visits Brussels, Belgium, for meetings with NATO and other European leaders. Each battalion is led by a framework nationthe United Kingdom in Estonia, Canada in Latvia, Germany in Lithuania, and the United States in Poland. What will another year of war look like? Russian cyberattacks and sub-threshold warfare are already evident; Sweden, for example, is worried by mysterious drone flights. Cue the protests from other parts of the globe: A chorus of nations are accusing Washington of fostering unfair competition. Ukrainian civilians are given military training in Kyiv, February 2022. Test yourself on the week of Feb. 25: Nigeria votes, Finland builds a border wall, and Israel escalates repression. From an old black cassette player, Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" rings out through a damaged neighbourhood of the ancient Turkish city of Antakya, where few residents remain since a devastating earthquake left it in ruins nearly a month ago. Any NATO expansion is sensitive for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who cited the issue as a justification, among others, for his invasion of Ukraine. Some emphasise that the events in Lithuania differed from the other two countries, with Smetona having different motivations as well as securing power eight years before any such events in Latvia or Estonia took place. Putin still fumes over the Baltics decision to join NATO, seeing it as a betrayal of Western promises. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. At the beginning of the 21st century, the titular nationalities of Lithuania and Estonia accounted for about four-fifths and two-thirds of the countries populations, respectively, while ethnic Latvians made up just less than three-fifths of their nations population. Three more members joined between 1952 and 1955, and a fourth new member joined in 1982. Suwalki Gap: The. Your guide to the most important world stories of the day. Unlike Ukraine, they had joined NATO in the early 2000s, and now enjoy the. All Baltic states are now part of NATO and the European Union. 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Lithuania said it was sending two diplomats home and Latvia and Estonia one each. Among the animals that inhabit the region are elk, boar, roe deer, wolves, hares, and badgers. Is that what is going to satisfy (Baltic) security concerns? Plesch asked in an interview with VOA. In our Center for European Policy Analysis report, we identified more than a dozen serious problems. [16] This process contributed to the dissolution of the Soviet Union, setting a precedent for the other Soviet republics to secede from the USSR. Lithuania is the southernmost of the Baltic States. Relations between the United States and China seem to be getting frostier by the day. [1] North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949, which sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern Europe after World War II. By Lara Jakes March 7, 2022 VILNIUS, Lithuania Demanding assurances that the Baltic States will not become Russia's next battleground, Lithuania's president firmly told America's top diplomat. The term was also used historically to refer to Baltic Dominions of the Swedish Empire (Swedish: stersjprovinserna) and, subsequently, the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire (Russian: , romanized:Ostzejskie gubernii). These two non-NATO countries have close military ties with each other as well as NATO. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on. The default username below has been generated using the first name and last initial on your FP subscriber account. Explore the benefits of your FP subscription. Years of cost-cutting, timidity, and wishful thinking by NATO governments make it harder. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania each adopted the euro as its common currency in 2011, 2014, and 2015, respectively. The best way to increase the internal and external credibility of defense is to practice using difficult scenarios in real time. [9][10] The Soviet Union attempted to Sovietize its occupied territories, by means such as deportations and instituting the Russian language as the only working language. Baltic leaders called for a bolstered NATO troop presence on the alliance's eastern flank. Currently, U.S. troops are part of NATOs Baltic rotational battlegroups, which are led by Germany, Britain, and Canada. The black hole in the regions security is Germany. Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy is a shadow of its former self.. These differing threat assessments and political approaches are obstacles to everything else. Considering some militants as instruments of regional influence while fighting others has had disastrous consequences. [24], Even now being a part of the European Union, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are still considered as the most vulnerable EU member states in the energy sphere. Yet below the surface, the regions defense and security arrangements, far from threatening Russia, look troublingly flimsy. Since the decline of Russian influence and integration into the European Union economy, English has become the most popular second language in the Baltic states. Seven ex-Soviet bloc states have now ejected Russians, Explusions gather pace after Czech call for solidarity, Moscow complains of attempts to wreck relations. In terms of religion, just over half of Estonians are unaffiliated Christians. The forced collectivisation of agriculture began in 1947, and was completed after the mass deportation in March 1949 (see Operation Priboi). The main trading partners outside the region are Russia, Germany, Finland, and Sweden. The inflation rate, in the examined area, relatively quickly dropped to below 5% by 2000. Read also: Ukrainians not prepared to forego EU and NATO membership in exchange for peace, survey shows. One of the easier steps would be to align the regions security objectives by compiling and publishing a common threat assessment. The Baltic states are bounded on the west and north by the Baltic Sea, which gives the region its name, on the east by Russia, on the southeast by Belarus, and on the southwest by Poland and an exclave of Russia. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 30 independent member countries. Want to read more on this topic or region? Area 67,612 square miles (175,116 square km). [25] Secondly, the dependence on single supplier Russia is not healthy both for economics and politics. The Baltic states have historically been in many different spheres of influence, from Danish over Swedish and PolishLithuanian, to German (Hansa and Holy Roman Empire), and before independence in the Russian sphere of influence. [citation needed] During the occupation the Nazi authorities carried out ghettoisations and mass killings of the Jewish populations in Lithuania and Latvia. All three Baltic countries are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain a very high Human Development Index. [35] There are several theories about its origin, most of which trace it to the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root *bhel[36] meaning 'white, fair'. For example, there is the British-U.S. intelligence-sharing agreement, which also includes the other so-called Five Eyes: Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The Estonian (and Livonian) peoples, who are considered Finnic peoples, speak languages of the Finno-Ugric family and constitute the core of the southern branch of the Baltic Finns. But the inducements encourage U.S. companies to invest only at homenot elsewhere. Numerous Swedish loanwords have made it into the Estonian language; it was under the Swedish rule that schools were established and education propagated in the 17th century. Only FP subscribers can submit questions for FP Live interviews. There is also significant proficiency in Finnish in Estonia owing to its linguistic relationship with Estonian and also widespread exposure to Finnish broadcasts during the Soviet era. 1941 saw the invasion and occupation of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia by Nazi Germany, before the Red Army re-conquered the territory in 19441945, after which the Soviet Union maintained control over the three countries until 1991. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. Military mobilitythe vital business of moving large numbers of troops and equipmentis patchy too. There is also frequent cooperation in foreign and security policy, defence, energy, and transportation. 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. 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. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. A jeep would follow behind with an officer bearing cash and checks to compensate farmers for their losses. Analysis: They diversified their oil import suppliers due to shutdown of Druzhba gas pipeline in 2006 and increased the share of renewable sources in total energy production with the help of the EU policies. In 1385, through marriage to a Polish queen, the Lithuanian crown merged with that of Poland. On September 10, 20 Baltic-American leaders presented a petition signed by 25,000 Baltic-Americans from 50 states to White House officials urging the Bush administration to support NATO membership for the Baltics.This was the day before the terrorist attacks of 9-11. Repressions, executions and mass deportations followed after that in the Baltics. Albania. [6] Some controversy surrounds the Baltic authoritarian rgimes due to the general stability and rapid economic growth of the period (even if brief), some commenters avoid the label "authoritarian"; others, however, condemn such an "apologetic" attitude, for example in later assessments of Krlis Ulmanis. For its part, Washington has made a series of policy choices over the last few years that can be summed Show moreup as tough on Beijing, even seeking to contain the rise of the worlds second-biggest economy. [12] Over 190,000 Lithuanian Jews, nearly 95% of Lithuania's pre-war Jewish community, and 66,000 Latvian Jews were murdered. Delivered Thursday. In total, the Baltics now host about7,700 foreign NATO troops nearly twice as many compared to earlier this year. By the time the North Atlantic Council, NATOs political body, has met, been briefed, deliberated, ironed out potentially dissenting views from countries such as Hungary, and reached a decision, it could be too late. It is dangerously outdated now. Delivered Monday-Friday. Like Latvia, Lithuania also had a large Jewish community, but it too was decimated by the Holocaust. Rewriting the rules on data-sharing with non-NATO members Sweden and Finland would maximize the usefulness of these insights. Low energy supplies, inflationary prices, and an economic collapse in Russia contributed to an energy crisis in the Baltics in the 1990s. Many think that NATOs presence in the region has gone far enough already. Especially, the high share of renewables were introduced to the energy production of Latvia, that can be explained by the state's geographical location and favorable natural conditions. At least formally, most Western democracies never considered the three Baltic states to be constituent parts of the Soviet Union. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Australia was a brief exception to this support of Baltic independence: in 1974, the Labor government of Australia did recognize Soviet dominion, but this decision was reversed by the next Australian Parliament. Prime Minister Kaja Kallas made history as the first female prime minister of the tiny European Union member state in 2021. NATO needs to change too, writing a new strategic conceptin essence, the alliances manifestoto more clearly stress defense against and deterrence of a Russian attack in the region. Nowadays, civilian life takes precedence. The Latvians and Lithuanians, linguistically and culturally related to each other, are Baltic Indo-European people. In Latvia exists a small community of Finnic people related to the Estonians, composed of only 250 people, known as Livonians, and they live in the so-called Livonian Coast. 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. For example, a Polish exercise last year, despite making generous assumptions about their access to advanced weaponry, ended with Polish forces being slaughtered in five days and the Russians poised to take Warsaw. The Latvians also were considerably Germanized, and the majority of both the Estonians and the Latvians belong to the Lutheran church. Toggle Relations with NATO member states subsection 6.1 Greece. However, those agreements can be regarded in significant part as null and void given Russian actions, Plesch said. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. Latvia is sandwiched between Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. 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. "We are aware of the fact that the Russian tanks, which are currently burning in Ukraine, were intended for a large-scale invasion of NATO countries, including Estonia . The German occupation lasted until late 1944 (in Courland, until early 1945), when the countries were reoccupied by the Red Army and Soviet rule was re-established, with the passive agreement of the United States and Britain (see Yalta Conference and Potsdam Agreement). Despite schooling available and administration conducted in local languages, Russian-speaking settlers were neither encouraged nor motivated to learn the official local languages, so knowledge of some Russian became a practical necessity in daily life in Russian-dominated urban areas. Usually the concept of energy security is related to the uninterruptible supply, sufficient energy storage, advanced technological development of energy sector and environmental regulations. The Soviet Union recognized the independence of three Baltic states on 6 September 1991. Indeed, Russians are still Estonias biggest ethnic minority today, comprising 25% of the population. Nowhere is the credibility of the United States and its allies at greater risk than in the Baltic Sea region. Current exercises in the region are too small, too well scripted, and too devoid of complexity. VILNIUS, April 23 (Reuters) - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Friday joined a fast-growing list of NATO and EU members demanding the removal of Russian diplomats for alleged spying, in actions. The Latvian and Lithuanian languages belong to the Indo-European language family and are the only extant (widely recognized) members of the Baltic language group (or more specifically, Eastern Baltic subgroup of Baltic). The small Baltic countries, whose militaries have long been dwarfed by that of neighboring Russia, are renewing their push for NATO to establish a larger and more permanent presence on their territory following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 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. Other countries in the region see them as a grave threat, entrenching the Kremlins dominance of the regions energy supply. 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. When WWI ended, the Baltic peoples fought off attempts by the newly-created Soviet Union to take back control of their territory, and in 1920, the Soviets signed treaties with Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, recognizing their independence. 02/10/2022. A flag-raising ceremony of the three. Moscows aggression may have permanently changed Nordic security debates. NATO cooperation . A curated selection of our very best long reads. Such rhetoric makes it appear unlikely that Russia - which has yet to announce its response to the Slovak and Baltic moves - will allow the disputes to quietly subside. Ethnic Estonians make up 69% of the population. But beyond the goals of one leader in Moscow, it is also clear that Ukraine has suffered horrors of a historic nature. [39] During the 19th century, Baltic started to supersede Ostsee as the name for the region. Each country guards its national decision-making jealously. There is now little doubt that Putin failed in his initial goals: Kyiv is still Show morestanding, Ukrainians are determined to keep fighting, and the West has so far stayed resolute in its support of Ukraine. [38][needs update], Since the Middle Ages, the Baltic Sea has appeared on maps in Germanic languages as the equivalent of 'East Sea': German: Ostsee, Danish: stersen, Dutch: Oostzee, Swedish: stersjn, etc. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? Its size and location would add crucial heft, but the other countries around the Baltic Sea are privately mistrustful of decision-makers in Berlin. The greater part of the three modern Baltic states' territory was for the first time included in the same political entity when the Russian Empire expanded in the 18th century. Stay updated on the topics you care about with email alerts. The last Russian troops were withdrawn from there in August 1994. Culturally, the Estonians were strongly influenced by the Germans, and traces of the original Finnish culture have been preserved only in folklore. 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. Lithuanias official language is Lithuanian, which is an East Baltic language related to Latvian. The Baltic states consist of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Indeed, the Baltic Sea lies mostly to the east of Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Their combined defense spending is around half of Russiasbut the Kremlin has global ambitions, such as space weapons, a blue-water navy, and a strategic nuclear arsenal. Three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow maintains imposing and generously staffed embassies across central and eastern Europe, which the host countries say provide convenient cover for espionage. Usernames may be updated at any time and must not contain inappropriate or offensive language. By David Brennan On 10/15/21 at 7:05 AM EDT. What does that mean for trade and globalization? Its capital, Vilnius, is at the forefront of Western support for Kiev. That was a defensibleif optimisticassumption in the 1990s. While separate peoples with their own customs and traditions, historical factors have introduced cultural similarities in and differences within them. Through the efforts of the Polish authorities in recent years, contacts with Russia have been virtually frozen, a shameful war with Soviet monuments has been launched, attempts are being made to torpedo Russian energy projects, a large-scale anti-Russian information campaign is being carried out, history is being falsified, and anti-Russian sanctions by the West are endlessly prolonged, it said. The Baltics are the only former Soviet states that have joined the EU and NATO, and provided an example to the likes of Ukraine over a possible route to European integration. Proper intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilitieswhich combine drone, sensor, and satellite capabilities with modern computing powercreate an unblinking eye that can look deep inside Russia, identifying what Kremlin forces are doing long before a crisis actually develops. Some of these are expensive, and the countries that need them most cannot afford them. 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. Russia. She has garnered widespread support and international . Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are also members of the OECD. NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) consists of four battalion-sized battlegroups (totaling about 4,500 personnel) deployed in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. A multitude of rivers, notably the Neman (Lithuanian: Nemunas) and Western Dvina (Latvian: Daugava), empty northwestward into the Baltic Sea. The area that now constitutes the Baltic States was first inhabited by Finno-Ugric tribes. Is Weiss correct? Lithuania, in contrast, achieved the best results on carbon intensity of economy but its energy dependence level is still very high. Further up the hierarchy, NATOs main land forces headquarters is in the Netherlandsbut splits taking charge on a six-month rotating basis with its naval counterpart in Naples, Italy. They are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain high Human Development Index. [38] Terms related to modern name Baltic appear in ancient texts, but had fallen into disuse until reappearing as the adjective Baltisch in German, from which it was adopted in other languages. 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.
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