Industry in the Baltic states is prominent, especially the production of food and beverages, textiles, wood products, and electronics and the traditional stalwarts of machine building and metal fabricating. Baltics in talks to increase NATO troops on their soil -Estonian PM 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. The Baltic states [a] or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. 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. 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. [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. 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. 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. Additional information on the regions physical and human geography can be found in the article Europe. However, those agreements can be regarded in significant part as null and void given Russian actions, Plesch said. All the Baltic states were once republics of the Soviet Union. In nearby Poland, the United States has a more substantial presence of 5,000 service members. Biden Weighs Deploying Thousands of Troops to Eastern Europe and 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). Solving this requires more than a one-off, reactive deployment. 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. The Breakaways: A Retrospective on the Baltic Road to NATO [1] The three governments engage in intergovernmental and parliamentary cooperation. 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. NATOs small air policing deploymenttypically just four warplanes based in Estonia or Lithuaniais there to deal with peacetime problems, such as airspace intrusions, not to fight off the Russian Air Force. There is no common maritime strategy, though control of the Baltic Sea in a crisis will determine what happens on land. Omissions? What followed after the Baltic States regained their independence was economic turmoil, as these countries tried to transition their economies to capitalism. That was a defensibleif optimisticassumption in the 1990s. The Soviet occupation of the Baltic countries was interrupted by Nazi German invasion of the region in 1941. Since 1991, NATO has been an organization designed for peace, not wara dangerously outdated assumption. Somewhere else are the Brits with their Joint Expeditionary Forcea 10-nation military framework for rapid deploymentand the Germany-based Joint Support and Enabling Command, which is meant to ensure that the right forces are in the right place at the right time. Ethnic Estonians make up 69% of the population. 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. Lithuania is the most populous of the Baltic States, with a population of just under 2.7 million. A RAND study had posited that the Russian military could conquer all three Baltic states quickly using its conventional forces in as little as thirty-six hours, but there are flaws in the. Urban dwellers constitute more than two-thirds of the regions population, with the largest cities being Vilnius and Kaunas in southeastern Lithuania, the Latvian capital of Riga, and Tallinn on the northwestern coast of Estonia. Some of these are expensive, and the countries that need them most cannot afford them. The United States has been regularly flying Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint electronic-eavesdropping planes over Ukraine since late December. The Latvians and Lithuanians, linguistically and culturally related to each other, are Baltic Indo-European people. 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. Putins proposed veto on enlarging NATO any further directly infringes on the sovereignty and security of Finland and Sweden, which have for years maintained that though they do not wish to join the alliance right now, they have the right to apply should they choose to. All three became NATO members on 29 March 2004, and joined the EU on 1 May 2004. Regional security in the Baltic Sea has been a problem for much longer than the current standoff with Russia. Each of the three countries has declared itself to be the restoration of the sovereign nation that had existed from 1918 to 1940, emphasizing their contention that Soviet domination over the Baltic states during the Cold War period had been an illegal occupation and annexation. Lithuania, Latvia and the third Baltic nation, Estonia, with fellow NATO members and other Western countries have provided aid to Ukraine and harshly sanctioned Russia since it invaded the. Experts are mixed when it comes to predicting whether NATO will establish a permanent presence in the Baltics anytime soon. Washington is right to counter Iran's brutality at home and abroad, but that shouldn't stop it from engaging with an adversary to preserve regional peace. Ukraines economy and infrastructure have been dealt blows that will take decades to recover from. 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. Is the Biden administrations China policy too hawkish? [39] Since World War II the term has typically been used to group the three countries Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. [12] Over 190,000 Lithuanian Jews, nearly 95% of Lithuania's pre-war Jewish community, and 66,000 Latvian Jews were murdered. Weekly update on whats driving U.S. national security policy. A jeep would follow behind with an officer bearing cash and checks to compensate farmers for their losses. What can we glean from the current state of play on the battlefield? Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania with a combined population of only about six million people have long been seen as some of NATOs most vulnerable nations. These deployments need to be on a war-fighting footing. One of the easier steps would be to align the regions security objectives by compiling and publishing a common threat assessment. 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. 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. Planners are given many months to ensure that everything goes smoothly. Baltic leaders have long pushed for a permanent basing of U.S. troops, seeing it as the ultimate deterrent against a Russian invasion. The countries joined the Western military alliance in 2004 but are connected to the rest of European NATO countries by only a narrow corridor, which lies between the heavily armed Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia-allied Belarus. Latvia is sandwiched between Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. The pandemics outbreak brought rare reporting freedoms. Donald Trump Era Left NATO Stronger, Baltic Allies Say - Newsweek Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. After the end of the Cold War, NATO added 14 more members from 1999 to 2020. Indeed, the Baltic Sea lies mostly to the east of Germany, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Join the conversation on this and other recent Foreign Policy articles when you subscribe now. There are other countries that border the Baltic Sea, such as Poland, Finland, and Sweden, but when people refer to the Baltic States, they are usually just referring to the three countries that sit on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which are Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Its not clear what a more permanent NATO presence in the Baltics would entail in terms of weapons. The Black Sea lies off Lithuanias west coast. Watchthe conversation onFP Live, the magazines forum for live journalism, orreada condensed transcript. Edgars Rinkvis, Latvia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaks to VOA on March 18, 2022. [25] Due to their Soviet past, Baltic states have several gas pipelines on their territories coming from Russia. The Baltic States were subsequently admitted to the United Nations. What does that mean for trade and globalization? All Baltic states are now part of NATO and the European Union. But this independence was short-lived. By one estimate from Harvard University, more than 130,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or severely wounded, in addition to the deaths of more than 7,000 Ukrainian civilians. The peoples in the Baltic states have together inhabited the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea for millennia, although not always peacefully in ancient times, over which period their populations, Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian, have remained remarkably stable within the approximate territorial boundaries of the current Baltic states. NATO and the Baltic states - Tactics Institute 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). Vikings from Scandinavia, Slavs from the east, and Germanics from the west conquered most of the territory that now comprises the Baltic States, except Lithuania. NATO in the Baltics: Putin wants forces away from Russia's border, but In addition, Bulgaria and Poland have expelled two and three Russians respectively, prompting Moscow to show the door to two Bulgarians and five Poles. Test yourself on the week of Feb. 25: Nigeria votes, Finland builds a border wall, and Israel escalates repression. The command structure is like a bowl of spaghetti. It is dangerously outdated now. [citation needed] During the occupation the Nazi authorities carried out ghettoisations and mass killings of the Jewish populations in Lithuania and Latvia. Behind all that is the regional U.S. headquarters in Poland and its main headquarters for Europe in Virginia. 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. No country in the region has enough of these defensive systems, and some have none. Russia borders Latvia to the east, and the Baltic Sea is to the west. All maps, graphics, flags, photos and original descriptions 2023 worldatlas.com, Latvias capital and largest city is Riga, Lithuanias capital and largest city is Vilnius, U.S. States Bordering The Most Other States, The 10 Wettest States In The United States Of America. The latest news, analysis, and data from the country each week. Is that what is going to satisfy (Baltic) security concerns? Plesch asked in an interview with VOA. 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. Center for European Policy Analysis report, The West Must Do More to Prevent Conflict With Iran, Putin Has Assembled an Axis of Autocrats Against Ukraine, The Deep Roots of Pakistans Terrorism Crisis, What the ChatGPT Moment Means for U.S.-China Tech Competition. They are classified as high-income economies by the World Bank and maintain high Human Development Index. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are also members of the OECD. The Czechs are embroiled in the biggest row of all, which looks set to involve the departure of dozens of Czech and Russian diplomats and was prompted by Czech allegations that Russian intelligence was behind a deadly explosion at an ammunication depot in 2014. read more. By the end of the 18th century, all Baltic territory became part of the Russian Empire. [2], After the First World War (19141918) the term "Baltic states" came to refer to countries by the Baltic Sea that had gained independence from the former Russian Empire. A curated selection of our very best long reads. 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. Despite fresh salvos of Western sanctions, Tehran and Moscow are buddying up on defense ties. Keep up with the world without stopping yours. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on. [23], Possible threats to energy security include, firstly, a major risk of energy supply disruption. Is Weiss correct? The Soviets attempted to prevent these countries from seceding through economic blockades. In August 1940, all three Baltic States were made Soviet republics, which meant that they became part of the USSR. During a Baltics tour earlier this month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said more permanent deployments were being considered as part of a larger review of NATOs defense posture. 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). rs worth well over $400 billion. These differing threat assessments and political approaches are obstacles to everything else. But its not just the United States. (Required). EPA-EFE/Sergey Dolzhenko. ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION AS AT 01.01.2018", "Home Oficialiosios statistikos portalas", "Employees fluent in three languages it's the norm in Lithuania", "Nida and The Curonian Spit, The Insider's Guide to Visiting", "Population by gender in regions, cities, counties and parishes at the beginning of the year - Gender, Territorial unit, Indicators and Time period", "Eurostat - Tables, Graphs and Maps Interface (TGM) table", "Defense budget to increase by 103 million", "GINI index (World Bank estimate) | Data", The Shadow in the East: Vladimir Putin and the New Baltic Front, On the Boundary of Two Worlds: Identity, Freedom, and Moral Imagination in the Baltics, 1914-1918-online. These three countries each have their own distinct language and culture, however, their histories often overlap. Last week, Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks described Germanys approach as immoral and hypocritical.. It is the United States that makes the NATO security guarantee fully credible. Click + to receive email alerts when new stories are published on [26] Therefore, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania play a significant role not only in consuming, but also in distribution of Russian energy fuels extracting transaction fees. Delivered Monday-Saturday. NATO's Baltic States, Russia remove ambassadors as diplomatic relations downgraded By Andrius Sytas [1/2] A view shows the Russian embassy building in Tallinn, Estonia January 21, 2023. 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. Washington jealously guards its best intelligencefor example, anything involving Russian submarines. Opportunistic firms in Asia and Europe have already begun to relocate investments to the United States. In August 2001, Latvia and Estonia agreed to jointly purchase long-range radars from Lockheed Martin. Baltic states - Wikipedia In fact, in 1897, Jews made up 7.4% of the population, and were the second largest minority group in the country after Russians. The three states have the highest productivity of the former constituent republics of the Soviet Union. What Baltic leaders think about a war they've long warned was coming bleak warnings of the Baltic states about President . Since 2021, the tiny Baltic nation of Lithuania has come up against three authoritarian regimes: Belarus, China, and Russia. Officially, its Russian equivalent (Pribaltiyskiy) was first used in 1859. Now, Jews comprise just 0.2% of the Latvian population. [4][5], All three Baltic countries experienced a period of authoritarian rule by a head of state who had come to power after a bloodless coup: Antanas Smetona in Lithuania (19261940), Krlis Ulmanis in Latvia (19341940), and Konstantin Pts during the "era of silence" (19341938) in Estonia, respectively.