“NATO must be prepared for the possibility that Russia will launch an existential war against the Baltic states,” said the letter, signed by Lithuanian envoy Lina Zygmandeit, Latvian ambassador Ivita Parmistre and Estonian ambassador Viljar Lupi.
Diplomats from the Baltic states expressed concern that their warnings about the growing threat from Russia were too easily dismissed by some NATO member states. In their report, they recalled that only collective security can ensure security in Europe.
Remembrance of dark pages of history
In the letter, the diplomats said Ukraine's current experience of deportations, torture, child abductions and “cultural destruction” reminded them of their “dark memories and fears” of the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states that began in 1940.
The ambassadors clearly indicated that they were aware of the possibility of a rapid retreat of the Russian army from the south to the west. They agree with intelligence projections that point to a “significant strategic challenge” to security and deterrence over the next three years.
In the letter, the diplomats called on NATO to “take quick decisions” and invest in the capabilities needed to implement the alliance's new defense plans. They insisted that the Baltic states were “ready to fight to protect every inch and every soul”, but that “NATO must do the same”.
In the end, the diplomats decided that Russia could not be defeated. “A clear path to Ukraine's membership in NATO should be a priority at the alliance summit in Washington,” they concluded.
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