OSLO - The three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have officially joined the Nordic Defense Cooperation (NORDEFCO) project initiatives. At an October 16 meeting of the Nordic-Baltic Defense Policy Directors in Oslo the NORDEFCO project format opened up for the Baltic states allowing for further development and implementation of the Nordic-Baltic Capacity Building Initiative. An official invitation by NORDEFCO - consisting of the five Nordic nations of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - had been extended to the Baltic States earlier in January 2011.
Founded on November 4, 2009, as a new structure through which to draft and conduct joint initiatives between Nordic partners, NORDEFCO offers the Baltic States a means through which to broaden their security umbrella beyond the twin European pillars of NATO (for military/sovereignty security) and the European Union (diplomatic/economic security).
Emerging from the breakup of the former Soviet Union in 1991 with their independence the Baltic States understood their vulnerability vis-à-vis the new Russian Federation. Eager to track a new course in the post-Soviet sphere they fixed their compass towards the West. Entry into NATO and the European Union came in 2004 and with that a newfound sense of security.
But their Russia worries never fully went away, particularly in Estonia and Latvia where large portions of their citizenry are of Russian ethnicity. Unease between the Estonian and Latvian and ethnic Russian populations presents a wedge the Kremlin may look to exploit, much as Vladimir Putin's regime has done in Ukraine. The annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula by Russia was justified by Moscow as necessary to protect the rights of Russian-speaking peoples outside the borders of the Russian Federation.
Aware of their vulnerability due to their small size, limited populations and closeness to Russia, the three Baltic States have opted for cooperative solutions to fill their security needs. Through Baltic cooperation the three nations have forged a joint naval squadron (BALTRON) and the Baltic Air Surveillance Network (BALTNET). Lacking fixed-wing combat components of their own the partners look to NATO to fill their joint air-policing requirement, which is conducted on a four-month rotating basis by Alliance members based at Estonia's Amari air base.
Partnership with the Nordic states is a natural offshoot of the Baltics multi-vectored approach to meeting security needs and maximizing capabilities. For the three tiny nations, each with small militaries tailored for niche NATO expeditionary roles and limited territorial defense, wedding themselves to security cooperatives such as NATO, EU 'Battlegroups' and NORDEFCO is both natural - and necessary.
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