Why are the Baltic states so rattled?

This week, soldiers from Germany and Belgium are settling into a new posting in Lithuania as part of the latest NATO troop deployment. Will their hosts—and the region—feel more secure as a result of their presence?

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NATO member countries Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are feeling threatened by Russia. Why are the Baltic states so rattled?

Russia's been on the offensive; invading Ukraine and seizing Crimea in 2014. President Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin see NATO as a threat. One of NATO's founding principles is collective self-defence under the fifth article of the 1949 Washington treaty.

Fears are intensifying that Moscow will test NATO in the Baltics. These small, flat, thinly populated countries are tricky to defend. Russia has a huge military capacity compared with the Baltic states.

Why is Russia so interested in the Baltics? They were part of the Russian empire and Soviet Union. Both Estonia and Latvia have large Russian minority populations. In defence, Lithuania has restarted conscription and NATO is deploying more troops to the region but NATO's main backer could soon prove less supportive with a new president sending mixed messages about the alliance and declaring his admiration for Mr Putin. Leaders in the Baltic may have good reason to be worried.

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