Baltic Roundup | March 2024
The Baltic countries celebrate 20 years as members of NATO this month. And, is Lithuania one of the happiest places for young people?
Dear readers,
The Baltic countries celebrate 20 years as members of the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance this month. And, is Lithuania one of the happiest places for young people? Now a look back at other happenings in the region.
Foreign Policy
US Congress approved $228 million for military and defense aid under the Baltic Security Initiative. The funding, slightly higher than the $225 million allocation in 2023, is focused on air defenses, land forces, and maritime situation awareness. The US agreed on a five-year defense cooperation roadmap with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in December that intends to guide defense and security relationships through 2028.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Baltic foreign ministers in Washington, DC. “These three allies have been leaders in NATO, contributing significantly to their defense budgets, leading the way in NATO, and leading the way in support for Ukraine at a time when that support is absolutely vital,” Blinken said in his remarks. Watch their joint session here.
Estonia's Prime Minister Kaja Kallas spoke with NPR's Scott Simon about Russia and the war in Ukraine. When asked if she feared Estonia might be next, Kallas responded: “No. I'm concerned that NATO might be next. … if there's [an] attack on one, there's [an] attack on all.”
“Leonid Volkov — former chief of staff to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny — was brutally attacked with a hammer and tear gas after pulling up to his home in Vilnius.”
Security & Defense
Lithuania's Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė asked popular Defense Minster Arvydas Anušauskas to step down from his post. Following his resignation, Anušauskas made comments to the press hinting at possible corruption in defense procurement, sparking an investigation. His replacement is Laurynas Kasčiūnas, a conservative politician who has been criticized for his far-right views and opposition to human rights. Still, it has the backing of some Lithuanian Ukraine support groups. Also, Lithuania released its 2024 National Threat Assessment.
Leonid Volkov — former chief of staff to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny — was brutally attacked with a hammer and tear gas after pulling up to his home in Vilnius. According to the National Crisis Management Centre, this is the first case of political terrorism in Lithuania. Volkov called the attack “an obvious, characteristic, typical, gangster-style greeting from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin.” Lithuania's State Security Department also implicated Russia and cited this month's “stage-managed” elections, which secured Putin an unprecedented fifth term.
A recent bot attack in rudimentary Latvian is the first such operation in one of the languages of the Baltic countries. The bot campaign — which focused on a recent hockey tournament — appears to be the work of the pro-Kremlin Doppelganger bot network. Analysts say the attack may have been a test run ahead of the European Parliament elections. In Estonia, government institutions saw the largest distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack to date, though services were not substantially impacted thanks to mitigating measures.
Domestic Affairs
Mikhail Kõlvart was ousted as the mayor of Tallinn, ending the Center Party's 20-year run leading the capital city. Madle Lippus (Social Democrats) was elected mayor with a razor-thin margin. Last September, Kõlvart was elected chair of the party, leading to notable defections.
Latvia's state security services initiated criminal proceedings against MEP Tatjana Ždanoka, who allegedly worked with Russia's security services. And, Marat Kasem, a Latvian citizen and former editor of Sputnik Lithuania who was expelled from Lithuania in 2019 and arrested in Latvia in 2022 but released on bail, said he would not return to Russia. His mission at Sputnik Lithuania was to destabilize the country, he said in an interview with LSM.
A parliamentary commission concluded that Lithuania's State Security Department (VSD) rendered favors to President Gitanas Nausėda during the 2019 elections. His office says the investigation was political. Nausėda has been leading in the polls for the upcoming elections in May. Latvia's Corruption Prevention and Combating Bureau (KNAB) began looking into allegations of tax evasion and “envelope wages” by center-right party Unity, which the party has denied. KNAB is also looking into the State Chancellery's use of chartered jets while Krišjānis Kariņš was serving as prime minister. Kariņš announced on March 28 he would resign from his position as minister of foreign affairs.
The Office of Citizenship and Migration has issued the first expulsion orders to Russian citizens in Latvia who have failed to submit required residency documents. Estonia began issuing fines for cars with Russian license plates and Lithuanian officials confiscated the first car with Russian registration with plans to hand it over to Ukraine. And, Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a sharp critique to the German news magazine Der Spiegel over inaccuracies in a sensationalized article about the status of Russian speakers in Latvia.
Aitäh, paldies and ačiū,
Indra Ekmanis
Baltic Bulletin Editor
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