The Baltic states in the EU: committed Europhiles or geopolitical hostages?

ENThe Baltic states have been loyal supporters of European integration since their entry into the European Union (EU). The integration of the Baltics into the EU has been an inseparable part of their transformation agenda since the 1990s. It was closely intertwined with their core aims to establish institutions of free market and democracy. The Baltics stand out as the only post-Soviet countries that have achieved these goals and have been ultimately accepted as full members of the Western institutional structures. In the chapter, we explore the major objectives of the Baltic policies towards the EU as well as how much commonality can one trace within the three Baltic states, namely Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania? Having in mind trends of democratic erosion and increasing Euroscepticism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and beyond it, relatively stable Baltic countries might appear as an island of tranquillity in a stormy sea. Such understanding, however, would be deceptive. Behind an image of cooperative pro-European countries, there are essential insecurities and vulnerabilities that both inform and haunt the Baltic countries’ approach towards the EU. The chapter is divided into four parts. First, we analyse the guidelines along which the Baltics have been developing their EU policies. In the three following parts, we concentrate on political priorities that are of strategic importance for the Baltic states acting within the EU. We dissect both commonalities and differences in the Baltic countries’ participation in the European integration process and draw relevant conclusions.