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Latest Articles about Latvia
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New Sanctions and Lukashenka’s Improvised Reaction to Belarus’s Western Neighbors
On August 1, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka paid a working visit to Kamenets district in Brest oblast, right on the border with Poland. His major task was to personally observe harvesting operations—one of Lukashenka’s hobbies derived from his professional background. Still, after having lunch with... MORE
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The NATO Summit, Western Sanctions and Belarus’s Capacity to Act Independently
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit on July 11 and 12 was held just 30 kilometers from the Belarusian border. Valer Karbalevich of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty noted that, in the summit’s final communiqué, Belarus was mentioned seven times (Svaboda, July 13). If, however, one... MORE
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Latvia and Estonia Agree to Joint Acquisition of IRIS-T Air Defense Systems
Latvia, together with Estonia, is undertaking the largest military procurement project since the restoration of independence in acquiring the IRIS-T air defense system from Germany. In late May 2023, these plans were made public by Latvian Minister of Defense Ināra Mūrniece and Estonian Minister of... MORE
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Latvia Reinstitutes Conscription Amid Calls to Strengthen National and Regional Security
On April 19, the legislation that provides for Latvia’s return to military conscription came into force as adopted by the Latvian Parliament and ratified by Latvian President Egils Levits (Labdien.lv, April 19). The compulsory National Defense Service will be introduced gradually—the first cohort of enlistees... MORE
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Belarus and Its Neighbors in a Time of War: Attitudes, Perceptions and Realities
As a relatively small country squeezed between two increasingly antagonistic centers of power, Russia and the European Union, Belarus has always stood out for its dependency on multifaceted external factors. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated this dependency and added new aspects to it. Thus,... MORE
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ICC’s Arrest Warrant for Putin Divides Post-Soviet Space
In the three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 14 independent states of the post-Soviet era have been forced to improvise their policies vis-à-vis the Russian Federation. These measures range from the Baltic states’ total repudiation of the Soviet experience by joining... MORE
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Can Muscovy Be Considered a ‘State-Civilization’?
On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the new Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation (Kremlin.ru, March 31). The previous version had been adopted seven years ago; but even then, in 2016, its wording was significantly more diplomatic than the current document. Moscow’s... MORE
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The Role of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in the Russo-Ukrainian War
In September 2023, Russia and Belarus are scheduled to carry out the joint military exercises Union Shield 2023, aimed at improving interoperability of the two countries’ military command and control (Belta, November 2, 2022). And preparations for the operational drill on Belarusian soil have already... MORE
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The West’s Arctic Forge 23 Drills Unsettle Russian Military
As Russia’s assault on Ukraine gradually descends into a stalemate, the Russian government is increasingly concerned about Western responses to its aggression, particularly military exercises in formerly quiet and largely neutralist Scandinavia. Arctic Forge 23, a joint month-long Western military exercise in Finland and Norway,... MORE
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The Depopulation of Russian Border Towns Accelerates in the Baltic Sea Region
A common detail ties together the histories of Russia’s three neighboring countries—Latvia, Estonia and Finland. At various times in 1920, all three countries signed peace treaties with Russia, which, at the time, was referred to as the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). In truth,... MORE