BALTS DEMAND MORE PROTECTION AGAINST RUSSIA.

In separate but convergent statements yesterday, the foreign ministers of Estonia and Latvia called for additional security guarantees to their countries in order to compensate for higher Russian force levels in the nearby Pskov region. Both ministers said that they were in contact with the U.S. to discuss possible offsetting measures, which might include deployment of military hardware and/or acceleration of their countries’ admission to NATO. It is believed that Russian hardware deployed in Pskov region may nearly quadruple as a result of the memorandum of understanding, signed June 1 by U.S. and Russian officials, on amending the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty. (BNS, Interfax, June 10)

Estonian Military Exercise.