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SECURITY IN THE BALTIC SEA REGION
The security situation in the Baltic Sea area changed after the admission of the Baltic states and Poland into both the EU and NATO, leaving the two organisations face to face with Russia. By 2006, of the nine countries located around the Baltic Sea, six were members of NATO and eight were members of the EU. Such geopolitical changes affect the security risks of the region as well as the co-operation dynamics between its main security organisations, NATO and the EU.
Multiple reforms have been carried through in the new member states and their security and defence institutions have been modernised to EU and NATO standards. However, due to scarce resources, the new small states tend to make pragmatic choices in their security co-operation formats. While the old members in the region tend to prioritise the deepening of the ESDP co-operation format, the new members are more keen to co-operate with NATO.
This has sometimes resulted in a deep regional split of interests. The purpose of this study is to follow the integration process of the new members into the EU and NATO and assess how the integration process has influenced regional Baltic Sea security co-operation.
Riina Kaljurand
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