Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia say that their requirements for NATO are in force to increase the presence in the countries of the Baltic, despite their readiness to ratify any application for membership in NATO from Finland and Sweden, the Financial Times writes with reference to heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republics.
As reported, “the ministers emphasized that their approval of the expected applications for joining NATO by the Scandinavian countries does not belittle their requirements for the Alliance to increase their presence in their own countries
The publication notes that Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia want NATO to expand its multinational battle groups in their territories with battalions of about 1 thousand people to a team of 3 to 5 thousand people. They also want the missions for patrolling airspace to be transformed into air defense, which would make it possible to shoot down any potential opponents in their airspace.
As stated by the Foreign Minister of Latvia Edgers Rinkevs, the need to increase the presence of NATO in the Baltic region does not change. “There are still problems that need to be solved. The current security situation requires more bold plans from the alliance,” he believes.
According to the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Gabrilus Landsbergis, the North Atlantic Alliance should provide “a very clear consensus on the fact that every inch of NATO will be protected”.