Baltic Assembly participates in Conference about a new era in the Nordic-Baltic security and defence

On 9 September 2024, President of the Baltic Assembly Andrius Kupčinskas, Vice President Jānis Vucāns and Member of the Presidium Enn Eesma participated in the Conference “A new era in Nordic-Baltic security and defence: Challenges and opportunities after the NATO enlargement” in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The conference gathered decision-makers and experts from across the Nordic-Baltic regions and beyond to discuss the ongoing changes and the challenges and opportunities they create for countries in the region. Themes covered included regional cooperation on security and defence in NATO, NORDEFCO, and other formats as well as critical infrastructure, hybrid warfare, and democratic resilience and other challenges for democracies.

Minister of Defence of Denmark Troels Lund Poulsen highlighted the historically close ties of Denmark with the Baltic States and emphasised their importance nowadays. He also encouraged the Baltic-Nordic region countries to do more in the future than they are doing today by having the right plans to defend themselves if necessary and investing more in defence, as well as by encouraging cooperation in security matters with other countries in the region.

Senior Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, Associate Professor at Vilnius University and Expert at the Swedish Defence University Dalia Bankauskaite emphasized the importance of societal resilience in the Baltic States, particularly in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine. She highlighted that Ukraine has the highest level of societal resilience, and that the Baltic States share a similar sense of threat, with 75% believing that NATO membership provides security. While social and economic welfare are prioritized, information and cyber security are also seen as critical concerns. The Baltic people trust Western and national media more than Russian outlets. She also noted that resilience can be strengthened in communities by having strategies and plans. Therefore, there is a need to prepare beforehand and syncrhonise perceptions – this is what can be done together with the Nordic countries.

Fellow at the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga Jānis Kažociņš informed that there is a need to have a Baltic perspective in such discussions as it illustrates the acuteness of threats as the Baltic States have a historically different threat perception than the countries in the Nordic region. For example, the Baltic States realized long before other countries in the West that there will be a conflict between reality and realpolitik. Although the Baltic States are under NATO's protection, Russia still poses a potential threat. He emphasised that this is why the outcome of the war in Ukraine is critical not only for the Baltic States but also for the broader global order. A Ukrainian victory could lead to the downfall of Putin and reshape security dynamics in the whole of Europe.

With Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Nordic enlargement of NATO, and a NORDEFCO having a new vision and momentum, the security and defence landscape in the Baltic Sea region and Northern Europe is changing rapidly. At the end of the conference, it was concluded that Russia’s ongoing aggression has brought war to the Nordic-Baltic region and demonstrated the need for robust and unified approaches while being a stark reminder of the need for a more cohesive security strategy in the region.

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© Secretariat of the Baltic Assembly