... to the pre-Ukraine crisis balance of power structure. NATO’s expansion into Sweden and Finland can radically transform the political and security landscape in the Baltic region and destroy the established forms of cooperation these states have with Russia. This paper covers: risks and opportunities states face by engaging with Russia in the Baltic region; the changes in the region’s security configuration and their implications for Russia; the position of the Baltic states on the Ukraine crisis and its impact on their relations with Russia; and the security of Kaliningrad.
The Changing Security Configuration and Balance of Power in the Baltic Region: Implications for Russia
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... with difficult partners and, in many cases, this art was simply missing in Moscow following the end of the Cold War. We should have invested many more resources in building stronger relations with our neighbours. I do not recall a single visit of any Russian President to any of the Baltic states, while American and many Western European leaders paid visits to Tallinn regularly. But Estonia should be more important to Russia than it is to the US, given that we are neighbours, share a common history and the country’s large Russian-speaking minority. Surely the interactions were ...
... After a while, problems have accumulated, and Russia's unchanging attitude pushed the three Baltic republics towards the Western institutions: NATO and the European Union. In the midst of these problems, Russia has yet to change its attitude towards the Baltic states. Moscow preferred to talk to the 'old Europe' over the heads of Russia's closest Western neighbors. Russia still expects that Brussels, Berlin and Paris would solve all the problems within the EU and the Baltic states in particular. Such an approach gave Moscow a plausible pretext not to engage in managing the negative ...