China’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine played a role in Estonia’s decision to leave the 16+1 initiative, the Baltic country’s top diplomat said. “It was definitely a factor we had in mind when we made the decision. Before that, we consulted with a number of allies,” Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu said in an […]
Tag: Baltic
Latvia and Estonia, after Lithuania, left the Eastern European Cooperation ’17+1′ with China
Latvia and Estonia followed Lithuania’s lead and abandoned the “16+1” platform of the Eastern European Partnership with China, which had been seen as a threat to the European Union’s unity in relations with the world’s second largest national economy. The specific format was created in 2012 between Eastern European countries and China, in order for […]
Kaliningrad Governor: Proposed total ban on transit of goods between Baltic states and Russia
The governor of Russia’s Kaliningrad region proposed today a total ban on transit of goods between the three Baltic states and Russia, in response to Lithuania’s “blockade” of the enclave. “As a countermeasure we propose a complete ban on the transit of goods (including those passing through third countries) between the three Baltic countries and […]
Poland, Baltic states call on NATO to strengthen defense of Belarus-Kaliningrad corridor
Poland and the Baltic states want to see NATO strengthen its collective defense in the narrow corridor separating the territory of Belarus, a close ally of Russia, from the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad in the Baltic Sea, the Polish prime minister said in a statement. Friday. “We will ask for the strengthening of the corridor […]
Baltic leaders are calling for an increased NATO presence in the region
The presidents of Latvia and Lithuania took advantage of German Chancellor Olaf Solz’s visit to Vilnius today to call for an increased NATO presence in the Baltic states, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The NATO summit in Madrid later this month will decide whether to increase the number of Alliance troops in its eastern wing […]
The Baltic states have stopped importing electricity from Russia
Following the international sanctions imposed on Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian electricity export company lost today the opportunity to sell its product to customers in the Baltic countries. “This is an important step on our path to energy independence,” said Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Krevis. On Friday, the Nord Pool Energy […]
Bloomberg: NATO expansion could finally strengthen its weakest point
NATO has long faced a complex military problem: How to best defend the Baltic states bordering Russia and Belarus if Moscow ever chooses to attack. President Vladimir Putin may have inadvertently imposed a solution, according to a Bloomberg News report. While much of the focus on deteriorating East-West relations has been on Germany’s new military […]
German fighter jets take off over Russian Baltic reconnaissance aircraft
Two German Air Force pursuers have taken off urgently from a base in the state of Schleswig-Holstein over the weekend as a Russian reconnaissance aircraft was spotted in the Baltic, according to the German news agency. The Russian Air Force aircraft was in international airspace above the island of Rügen. The pursuers approached him and […]
Lithuania is calling for a stronger NATO military presence in the country
NATO should move more troops to Lithuania and other parts of Eastern Europe after Russia invades Ukraine, Lithuanian President’s Lithuanian Foreign Minister said during a meeting in Vilnius today. Reuters. The NATO-led Enhanced Battalion in the country should be reduced to “at least” the size of a brigade, and air defense should be improved, Lithuanian […]
Bloomberg: Sweden equips again to protect Baltic from Putin’s Russia
“Dissolving large sections of the armed forces in the euphoric climate of peace at the time may have made sense to many people,” said Karl Engelbrektson, commander of a unit in Gotland in 2005, when Sweden withdrew its troops from the critical strategic position in the center of the Baltic. Even then, he considered the […]