... self-explanatory—Russia is an aggressive state that has to be deterred.
RAND Corporation Report "Deterring Russian Aggression in the Baltic States Through Resilience"
In the very beginning, the authors state that the governments and citizens of Estonia, Latvia and Estonia are facing Russian propaganda and other nonmilitary activities on a daily basis. And that is just a part of a significant and insidious Russian campaign that designed to undermine trust in their institutions, foment ethnic and social tensions, and erode confidence ...
... towards breaking their Soviet integration ties in the East for good and further incorporating their economies into the economic and infrastructural space of the European Union. This is most clearly manifested in the desire to withdraw from the Belarus–Russia–Estonia–Latvia–Lithuania (BRELL) power grid and integrate their power networks into the European Union’s interconnected energy system. Besides, the Baltic states are keen to diversify energy sources to overcome Gazprom’s monopoly on the region’s gas market....
... journalists and anyone interested in studying the future and analysing long-term global trends.
The opinions presented in these articles reflect the personal views and research positions of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Russian International Aairs Council.
RIAC scientific and editorial support:
I. Timofeev, Ph.D. in Political Science; T. Makmutov, Ph.D. in Political Science; I. Sorokina, M. Smekalova, R. Mayka; with participation of D. Khaspekova and N. Mukhin.
... spending as a percent of GDP, although that country is actually spending much less on defence than Germany. Poland is playing a noticeable role: it has already met the Wales Summit requirements. Warsaw's defence spending is significantly lower than that of Russia, but is still significant to regional stability, especially in light of the procurement of new weapons and military equipment. The contribution of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is minimal: these countries are consumers of security, although still important in terms of their location in the potential theatre of military operations.
The bottom line is that Berlin's commitment to the 2/20 target will be of ...
... since the Soviet times: in 2014 Russia
fully met
the gas needs of these republics having exported 2.5 billion cubic metres of gas to Lithuania, 1 billion to Latvia and 0.4 billion to Estonia.
The BRELL power grid has been supplying power to Belarus, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia since 2001. In 2009 the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant which
generated up to 70%
of the gas consumed in Lithuania and made it possible to export energy was shut down on the EU’s demand. The Baltics finally turned from an energy-excessive ...
... chosen for particular reasons: it saw fierce battles between the Red Army and the armed forces of the Third Reich, including the Estonian SS-Legion. The core Europe and international organizations choose to ignore this tradition in modern Estonia, while Russia is its chief critic. Just as in Latvia, Estonian SS veterans, however, de facto enjoy the patronage of the local government. In 2013, for example, in response to the traditional criticism by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its Estonian counterparts argued that in Sinimäe all those ...