European Defense Summit in the Baltics

The Baltics are not afraid of Russia
But he fears remaining a European orphan
A two-day defense summit opened yesterday at one of the exotic Estonian resorts on the island of Saaremaa. The heads of the Baltic military departments are discussing with their Scandinavian colleagues how to become active freelancers without being invited to NATO. However, NATO is also not averse to showing that it is far from bureaucratic formalities and is always ready to indicate who is the true partner of the alliance. On Friday, on the eve of the summit, when guests were arriving at the Nasva International Sailing Center, the NATO AWACS reconnaissance system briefly flew into Tallinn airport.

As Viktor Polyakov, head of the press center of the Estonian Defense Ministry, told a Kommersant-Daily correspondent, the meeting of the defense ministers of the three Baltic and four Scandinavian countries was planned as an ordinary working meeting. And the beauty of the protected area of the island of Saaremaa and the cultural program were completely deprived of its militaristic accents. Official meetings take place in the ancient city hall. And for an informal conversation, the host of the summit, Estonian Defense Minister Andrus Eevel, last night invited meeting participants and journalists to the popular Melnitsa cafe for a beer festival, where guests were treated to the best varieties of local beer.
According to Polyakov, the meeting was given a specific flavor by politicians and diplomats who were puzzled by the anti-summit in Tallinn and the NATO forum in Sintra. The main problem, as the New York Times put it, is that Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are “again left as European orphans,” as they were in 1940. Moreover, according to the Latvian Ambassador to the United States Ojars Kalnins, this threatens not so much a Russian invasion as mass disappointment of the population and reluctance to continue reforms.
Therefore, the Baltic countries decided to urgently find their niche in the Baltic region and in the world community. This has already been discussed at a meeting of the three foreign ministers of the Baltic countries here in Saaremaa. Defense ministers are likely to continue preparations ahead of Madrid to ensure that the upcoming summit there does not turn into a lottery for a select few. The main task, as Andrus Eevel outlined it, is to come to an agreement with our Scandinavian colleagues and together achieve a frank admission from NATO leaders in Madrid: what will be the specific conditions and schedule for the admission of countries seeking to join NATO. In particular, “it is necessary to convince Norway to come out with Denmark in support of the admission of the Baltic countries to NATO.”
In addition, the defense ministers of the Baltic and Scandinavian countries intend to approve specific plans and schedules for the creation and development of a joint peacekeeping battalion of the Baltic countries ("Baltbat"), a joint squadron of minesweepers ("Baltron") and a unified airspace control system ("Baltnet"). Moreover, as senior officials explained, these plans are not at all aggressive in nature. In order to receive the necessary investments in the economy, you must be able to protect yourself.
However, it seems that NATO has not forgotten about the Baltics at all. On Friday, a Boeing 707 flew into Tallinn airport with the AWACS reconnaissance system, which “scans” the space within a radius of 600 km. This is one of the elite systems subordinate to the NATO command, which previously patrolled the borders of the Warsaw Pact member countries. It is quite possible that it is now mastering new routes that mark the boundaries of new interests and a new area of NATO responsibility.
MARINA Kommersant-KALASHNIKOVA

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 87 dated June 10, 1997, p. 5