The Baltic countries have already demonstrated their economic independence and competitiveness as members of the European Union. What they are now asked to do is prove their ability to withstand Russia's hybrid attacks.
After the collapse of communist regimes in the early 1990s, the nations of Central and Eastern Europe faced a pivotal choice: embrace Western-style democracy and market economics, or remain in the post-Soviet sphere. Today, more than three decades on, the results of that choice are stark.
More than three decades after the Soviet collapse, the three Baltic nations stand as prosperous democracies firmly anchored in Europe, while neighboring Belarus and Moldova still in Moscow’s orbit to varying degrees. The contrast, though sometimes clouded by nostalgia and disinformation, is stark.
Latvia must be prepared for everything in its defense: in the short term for versatile hybrid attacks, and in the long term even for a broader and more direct attack.
