Issue 4/2025: Rebalancing the Baltic Sea region
Now available: This issue of New Eastern Europe explores the changes taking place in the Baltic/Nordic region, from new defence strategies and alliances, to civil preparedness and social resilience.
July 9, 2025 -
New Eastern Europe
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Issue 4 2025Magazine
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Much has been said about how Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine has reshaped politics in Europe and beyond. Yet, for the societies of the Baltic Sea region, these shifts are more than security narratives and political statements. They generate fear and apprehension that is felt almost every day. Thus, with Finland and Sweden now members of NATO, which is the strongest defence alliance the West has created, the region finds itself at the centre of a major rebalancing. This new dynamic has seen the states around the Baltic Sea emerge as a new nexus in Europe’s defence and security. Their proximity to the Ukrainian frontlines, combined with a deep understanding of the Russian threat, gives their voices greater weight in shaping NATO and EU responses. This also explains why these states have been investing in military capabilities, civil resilience, and regional cooperation more than other European states. Once located at a peripheral frontier, they are now a strategic core.
This issue of New Eastern Europe explores these changes taking place, from new defence strategies and alliances, to civil preparedness and social resilience. We open it with an interview with Andrius Kubilius, former Lithuanian prime minister and now EU Commissioner for Defence, who outlines the growing strategic relevance of the Baltic states in shaping Europe’s response to the threats facing the continent. National perspectives offer further nuances. Thus, Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO is analysed by Minna Ålander and Eric Adamson, while Eóin McNamara investigates Estonia’s defence and Nasta Zakharevich asks whether Latvia is truly ready for war.
Beyond the Baltic Sea, this issue explores other key developments in the wider region, including the South Caucasus, where Georgia is seeing a dramatic slip towards authoritarianism, while Armenia is pinning its hope on stronger cooperation with the European Union. It also focuses on Hungary where new and surprising political dynamics seem to be underway.
CONTENTS
Rebalancing the Baltic Sea region
If the EU wants peace, it needs to prepare for war An interview with Andrius Kubilius
Nordic-Baltic total defence. Easier said than done Minna Ålander and Eric Adamson
Estonia’s road to comprehensive security Eoin Micheál Mcnamara
Is Latvia ready for war? Nasta Zakharevich
Latvia’s path to becoming Europe’s drone powerhouse Maciej Makulski
Breaking ranks or building resilience? The role of women in the Latvian and Estonian armed forces Sigita Struberga
With a view to the Baltic Sea Piotr Leszczyński
Expert Survey: Changing context in the Nordic-Baltic Sea region
Putin’s gift to NATO. The rise of the “New Nordic Shield” Inga Samoškaitė
Never before have we been so secure as today Elizabete Vizgunova-Vikmane
Denmark. A small nation rethinking its security Miłosz J. Cordes
A Baltic triangle Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik
A German perspective on security and stability in the Baltic Sea Thomas Michael Linsenmaier
Interviews
Political leaders are becoming their own satire A conversation with Armando Iannucci
Essays and analysis
Inside Viktor Orbán’s worst political crisis yet Samu Czabán
Authoritarian sandbox. Belarus as a testing ground for 21st century repression Leanid Marozau
Belarus after the war Pavlo Rad
Why the Black Sea is vital to Ukraine Jakub Łoginow
Balancing values and interests. NATO’s constrained engagement in the South Caucasus Nino Lezhava
Georgian Dream’s war with reality Tinatin Lolomadze
Armenia’s pivot to the EU Leonie Nienhaus
Europe’s complex relationship with Azerbaijan JP O’Malley
Between law and loyalty. Milorad Dodik and the challenge to Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statehood Samir Comaga
The Russian ontology David Hallbeck
Stories and ideas
A weekly dose of disinformation Novaya Vkladka
The fight for a letter How Ukraine is removing Russia’s imperial legacy Olena Makarenko
Dancing with the dictator. How Belarusian propaganda took over TikTok Kseniya Tarasevich
Thirty years after the Srebrenica genocide, Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a land suspended between memory and oblivion Tatjana Đorđević and Joshua Evangelista
Art, culture and society
Belarusian literature Wandering through a swamp Vera Beika
History and memory
The Vatican and the Eastern Bloc. What the Vatican archives can reveal about Cold War Europe Katarzyna Nowak
