Baltic states worry they could be Russia's next target

Viewed from Paris, London and Washington, the events unfolding in Ukraine may seem like a new Cold War taking shape in Europe.

From the Baltic countries, it looks much worse.

To Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians particularly those old enough to have lived under Soviet control Russia's belligerence toward Ukraine has some worried that they could be the next target. The escalating tensions thatpreceded Thursday's attack brought back memories of mass deportations and oppression.

"My grandparents were sent away to Siberia," said Jaunius Kazlauskas, a 50-year-old teacher in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital.

"My father was persecuted by the KGB. Now, I live in a free democratic country, but it seems that nothing can be taken for granted."

Russia's attack on Ukraine sent shock waves through the Baltic countries. Lithuania's president declared a state of emergency, and Latvia suspended the broadcast licences of several Russian TV stations accused of spreading disinformation and propaganda.

All three Baltic countries were seized and annexed by Joseph Stalin during the Second World War before gaining independence again with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. They joined NATO in 2004, putting themselves under the military protection of the United States and its Western allies. Ukraine is not part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Urged NATO to reinforce eastern flank

Along with Poland, also a NATO member, the small Baltic countries have been among the loudest advocates for powerful sanctions against Moscow and NATO reinforcements on the alliance's eastern flank.

Baltic government leaders in recent weeks have shuttled to European capitals, warning that the West must make Russian President Vladimir Putin pay for attacking Ukraine, or else his tanks will keep rolling toward other parts of the former Soviet empire.

"The battle for Ukraine is a battle for Europe. If Putin is not stopped there, he will go further," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis warned last week in a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.

Two days before the attack, U.S. President Joe Biden announced that some American forces deployed in Europe, including 800 infantry soldiers, F-35 fighters and Apache helicopters, would be moved to the three Baltic states, describing the step as purely defensive.

The news was met with enthusiasm in the Baltic capitals. While the NATO treaty commits all allies to defend any member that comes under attack, the Baltic countries say it is imperative that NATO show resolve not just in words but with boots on the ground.

"Russia always measures the military might but also the will of countries to fight," said Janis Garisons, state secretary at Latvia's Defence Ministry. "Once they see a weakness, they will exploit that weakness."

WATCH | Aftermathof initial strikes on Ukraine:

Raw video of attacks, aftermath in Ukraine

3 years ago

Duration 0:58

Video from Ukraine, where officials say Russian forces are striking from the north, east and south.

Moscow rule extends back 200 years

While Putin hasn't publicly expressed any ambition to reassert Russian control over the Baltic countries, many Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians worry he wants to regain influence across all former republics of the Soviet Union, the collapse of which he once described as a tragedy for the Russian people.

In his speech earlier this weeksetting the stage for Russia's military intervention, Putin said Ukraine is "not just a neighbouring country for us. It is an inalienable part of our own history, culture and spiritual space."

Culturally and linguistically different, the Baltic countries don't have the same connection to Russian history and identity. However, they were ruled by Moscow for most of the past 200 years, first by the Russian Empire, then for almost 50 years following the Second World War by the Soviet Union. All three countries have ethnic Russian minorities; in Latvia and Estonia, they make up about one-quarter of the population.

Though many of them are well integrated, tensions flared in 2007 when hundreds of ethnic Russians rioted against government plans to relocate a Soviet war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia's capital. Estonia suspected Russia of stoking the unrest and orchestrating cyberattacks that paralyzed government computer networks.

"When we hear Putin humiliating Ukraine, calling it an artificial state with no history, it reminds us of the same things that they have been repeating about all former Soviet republics for many years," said Nerijus Maliukevicius, a political analyst at Vilnius University.

The Russian "state propaganda machine is now working on unprecedented levels of intensity, and the message is not just about Ukraine," he said.

WATCH | Ukrainians scramble to leave:

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians flee Russian assault

3 years ago

Duration 5:38

Ukrainians are fleeing the capital, Kyiv, as President Volodymyr Zelensky declares martial law in response to Russia's attack on multiple targets in the country.

'It seems they are not going to leave'

Lithuania borders both Kaliningrad, a Russian region where the country's Baltic Sea fleet is based, and Belarus, the former Soviet republic where tens of thousands of Russian troops have been deployed for joint exercises. Belarus recently announced that the drills would continue because of the tensions in Eastern Ukraine.

"It seems they are not going to leave," Lithuanian DefenceMinister Arvydas Anusauskas said before Russia launched its attack on Ukraine. "But we must understand that numbers do not mean everything. There are technically very advanced troops on our side of the border. Their main task is deterrence and defence, if necessary."

The Baltic countries have expressed strong support for Ukraine. Baltic leaders have travelled to Kyiv recently to show their solidarity and have sent both weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Estonia, which celebrates its independence day on Thursday, is taking a strong stance in the conflict, but not because it fears for its security, said former President Kersti Kaljulaid, the first woman to hold that office.

"We are doing it because we find it is our moral obligation," she said. "We very strongly feel that ,,, every nation should have the right to decide their future."

While the Baltics are direct neighbours of Russia, she said, other European countries should be equally worried about the crisis in Ukraine.

"Frankly speaking, I don't think it concerns the Baltics more," she said. "If you look from Kyiv, it's the same distance to Berlin as Tallinn."

WATCH | NATO condemns Ukraine attack:

NATO condemns Russia's 'brutal act of war' in Ukraine

3 years ago

Duration 30:36

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says Russia's invasion of Ukraine has brought 'war in Europe on a scale and of a type we thought belonged to history.'