Allied forces practice amphibious assault near Ustka, northern Poland, on 17 June 2015 as part of BALTOPS 2015. NATO Photo
Summer is exercise season in the Baltic Sea region, and one of the largest ones is BALTOPS 16, which runs between June 3 and June 18, and ranges across a considerable portion of the Baltic Sea. Read More
Russian President Vladimir Putin
To understand what President Vladimir Putin may do in the future, the author of a new book on today’s Russia said Americans need to understand why and how he became a national hero by brutally suppressing separatists in Moscow’s second war in Chechnya. Read More
Estonian troops conduct a march past during the Opening Ceremony for Ex STEADFAST JAZZ on the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland, on Nov. 3, 2013. NATO Photo
A leading analyst on NATO policy called for the alliance to place a permanent military presence in Baltic member states as a hedge against a more active Russian military. Read More
Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin is engaged in “an existential struggle” with the West, not only in Ukraine and other close-by former Soviet states, but particularly to undermine NATO in the Baltic nations, a leading expert on Russia and Eurasia said Tuesday at the Heritage Foundation. Read More
Estonian troops conduct a march past during the Opening Ceremony for Ex STEADFAST JAZZ on the Drawsko Pomorskie Training Area, Poland, on Nov. 3, 2013. NATO Photo
Even though expansion of its role is not on the agenda for NATO’s upcoming meeting, the future of the Baltic states, the continuing crisis in Ukraine and the turmoil over who will be the next president of Afghanistan will overshadow the meeting. Read More
Members of the 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) will arrive in Poland on Wednesday to participate in a series of exercises. US Army Photo
The U.S. will send more than 600 troops for a training mission in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday. Read More
In Tartu Estonia, there is a building on the main square, constructed on an uncertain foundation that leans precipitously. The locals call it the “Leaning House” or the “Pisa Building.” Ironically, it leans to the west, appearing something like a hunting hound straining at the leash to be loosed to run after its quarry. In this case, though, complex histories, and Russia, are the leash.
