As the Russia-Ukraine war drags on with seemingly no end in sight, neighboring countries are quietly constructing defensive measures of their own.
Three Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia — have come to an agreement to build up defenses on their borders of Belarus and Russia, in the event Russia defeats Ukraine and turns its forces on them, VOA News reported.
The Estonian defense ministry released a statement, saying, “The ministers signed an agreement in Riga, according to which Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will construct anti-mobility defensive installations in the coming years to deter and, if necessary, defend against military threats.”
According to a report in Politico, among these three Baltic states, Estonia will be the one to “build 600 bunkers along its 294-kilometer border with Russia, with an initial budget of €60 million, according to Estonian public broadcaster ERR. Each bunker is designed to accommodate 10 soldiers,” with construction expected to begin in 2025.
Latvia and Lithuania have yet to publicize their defense plans for their borders, but “Lithuanian Defense Minister Arvydas Anušauskas underlined the ongoing collaboration with the U.S. in developing HIMARS rocket capabilities,” and “Latvian Defense Minister Andris Sprūds highlighted the completion of Latvia’s military anti-mobility plan, set to be presented to the government at the end of January, involving various short- and long-term border strengthening measures.”
Considering this war has dragged on for almost two years, with nary a conclusion in sight, why is it only now that these former Soviet Union territories are seriously gearing up for a potential attack, or even invasion, from Russia?
Well, according to reports, this impetus comes from a few different sources.
First, there is German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who thinks that “a Russian attack on NATO could occur within five to eight years.”
Second, NATO Military Committee Chair Adm. Rob Bauer called the current international state “the most dangerous world in decades.”
Will more European nations soon be at war with Russia?
Third, per Politico, in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin “accused the Baltic states of direct propaganda of Nazism, the same pretext the Kremlin used to invade Ukraine in February 2022.”
Fourth, “Sweden’s commander-in-chief urged Swedes to mentally prepare for war, with Sweden’s Minister for Civil Defense, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, warning of the war’s potential arrival in Sweden.”
Further, according to a report in Defense News, Finland is also preparing similar fortifications on their own border, beginning construction in 2022.
While it’s always a good strategy to hope for the best while preparing for the worst, based on Putin’s threat it seems the Baltic States have better reason than most to be preparing for the worst.
Is it indelicate to wonder if any of this would be necessary had Donald Trump remained in office in 2021?
Similar to the famous Iranian hostage situation that dragged on for years under President Jimmy Carter and ended almost immediately upon Ronald Reagan taking office, as the U.S. Office of the Historian helpfully reminds us, the Russia that hardly dared make a peep when Trump was in office has only grown bolder the longer President Joe Biden has made an embarrassment of himself and the United States.
In the eyes of the world and, honestly, in reality, the America of 2024 is far weaker than the America Trump unwillingly bequeathed to Biden, even weaker than the America of 2022, when the invasion began.
Clearly, Ukraine and Russia’s neighbors have small hope for a Ukrainian victory, and they, justifiably, fear the aggression could spill over their borders the longer this conflict drags on.
Most damningly, their actions don’t bespeak a great faith in their American allies either.
We as a country are on a precipice: Our blatant weakness and multiple internal problems mean other world powers, like China and Russia, feel more emboldened than ever to test our limits and oust us from our current place on the world stage.
America is a big part of the defensive strategy for many European countries.
And clearly, the actions of the Baltic States show they don’t currently have much faith in those current strategies — or us.
