"Game-Changer"

Transcript

The Baltics Under Pressure

Thursday, March 17, 2022, 4:00 am

Witnesses

Laima Andrikiene

Chair, Foreign Relations Committee of the Seimas (Parliament of Lithuania)

Marko Mihkelson

Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia)

Rihards Kols

Chair, Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima (Parliament of Latvia)

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has destroyed the international framework that has kept the peace in Europe since 1945, at a time when Baltic states Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia already faced complex and evolving security challenges.

Beyond Putin's existential threats, the Baltic states now must deal with a Belarus that has become little more than a staging area for Moscow to wage war on its peaceful neighbors. China's economic and diplomatic pressures also continue to weigh heavily. Yet these three relatively small countries nevertheless are demonstrating courageous, principled, and effective leadership on the international stage.

The chairs of the foreign affairs committees of the Lithuanian, Estonian, and Latvian parliaments offered views on opportunities to address the deteriorating security situation in Europe, including and especially through partnership with the United States.

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