On the warpath: the development and modernisation of the Baltic states’ armed forces
On the warpath: the development and modernisation of the Baltic states’ armed forces

Author(s): Bartosz Chmielewski, Jacek Tarociński
Subject(s): Security and defense, Military policy
Published by: OSW Ośrodek Studiów Wschodnich im. Marka Karpia
Keywords: Russia; Ukraine
Summary/Abstract: Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 reinforced the sense of threat from Russia in the Baltic states, and spurred them to speed up the implementation of their national defence policies. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia decided to boost their military spending and adapt their security objectives to the changing situation. The experience of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population prompted the three countries to take steps aimed at ensuring that they could defend their entire national territories from day one of a possible attack. The new objectives of their security and defence policies are based on three pillars: achieving defence spending of at least 3% of GDP, securing the greater presence of allied forces, and fast-tracking technical modernisation combined with the development of their own armed forces and the expansion of their military infrastructure.

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