“It’s a miracle Latvian survived as a language,” said Andis Kudors. “Latvians are sensitive because language is the main feature of our national identity.”
Estonia
Near The Russian Border, U.S. and NATO Beef Up Their Presence
“From here we defend Copenhagen, Paris, London and Washington,” said Hannes Hanso. “This is where the tensions are now because of our eastern neighbor, Russia.”
NATO Is Having an Existential Crisis
“We’re vulnerable to bullshit thrown in the fan,” an eastern European diplomat said, requesting anonymity so as to speak undiplomatically.
Cold War 2.0: The US Military Is Beefing Up Its Presence in the Former Soviet Bloc
The United States has quietly begun expanding its military footprint in a region that during the Cold War was deep inside the Soviet-controlled Warsaw Pact.
What Brexit Looks Like to the Rest of Europe
A colleague from Poland advised his British-born wife to get a Polish passport. It was high time to make some coffee.
NATO Is Holding the Biggest Exercise in Poland in a Decade, And Russia Is Not Happy
“I expected to go to Iraq or Afghanistan,” said Sergeant Malcolm McEwen, manning a Humvee with mounted Stinger missiles on the banks of the Vistula River.
Baltics Look Longingly at NATO
A local politician once compared Lithuania’s move to join the alliance to the extravagant wishes of a poor man to wear a fur coat.
Kaliningrad: Model of Cooperation with EU?
“Kaliningrad could be the best location in Russia — paradise, ” says Viktor Hoffmann. “But we must be open to Europe like Poland or Lithuania.”
When It Comes to Russia, It’s Munich All Over Again – Again
After the Cold War, Europeans became accustomed to gathering in Munich each year to talk about other people’s problems. Now they are learning that fences and seas can’t keep out the rest of the world.
Want to Move Your Tank Battalion to Take on a Threat? NATO’s Got a Form for That.
“What we want is like a military Schengen zone,” Lieutenant General Hodges said. “Right now refugees can move across Europe faster than military convoys.”
