Baltic Sea: (ain't no) NATO Lake - How We Got Here - TVP World

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The Baltic States are preparing for the worst.

Even though they are part of the history’s most powerful military alliance, they are not taking the threat of a Russian invasion lightly.

Lithuania and Latvia have hosted many NATO drills, wanting to ensure that their allies are as prepared as they are.

None of these countries wants to lose what they gained when the communist bloc and later the Soviet Union came crashing down into the dark pits of history. Russia, as shown by its actions in Ukraine and earlier in Georgia in 2008, clearly isn’t keen on letting the former parts of the USSR live out their lives in peace.

Its reawakened imperial dreams are focused on the Baltic Sea and its region. In the past, imperial Russia and the Soviet Union held dominion or influence over half of these countries. Moscow wanted the Baltic to be its very own pond.

Today, its only access to the Baltic is through Kaliningrad and the Gulf of Finland.

Just this year, Russia issued threats about redrawing its Baltic Sea border. The Gulf of Finland was to be a key part of this. Much like the Baltic States, Finland is also quite aware of the dangers of Russian hunger for territory.

Join Jan Darasz and his guest Piotr Szymański, Senior Fellow at the Center for Eastern Studies for How We Got Here.